North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong Ho has reportedly accused United States President Donald Trump of declaring war on his country and said that Pyongyang had the right to shoot down bombers from US.
Yong Ho said that this could apply even if the warplanes were not in Pyongyang's airspace. This statement were the response to Donald Trump's tweet on September 23, saying that the North Korean leadership will not "be around much longer" is they continued their rhetoric.
"Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!" Trump tweeted.
"The whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country," Mr Ri told reporters. "Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make counter-measures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country."
Meanwhile, the White House dissed the statement and called it "absurd." The Pentagon warned North Korea to stop the provocations.
"If North Korea does not stop their provocative actions, you know, we will make sure that we provide options to the president to deal with North Korea," Pentagon spokesman Col Robert Manning said.
United Nations spokesperson reportedly stated that the statements released could be fatal and will most likely end up with misunderstandings.
"We want things to calm down," China's ambassador to the UN, Liu Jieyi, told Reuters. "It's getting too dangerous and it's in nobody's interest."
"Fiery talk can lead to fatal misunderstandings," Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary General António Guterres, reportedly said.
"The only solution for this is a political solution," he added.
