North Korea accuses US of declaring war
Image copyright KCNA Image caption Thousands of North Koreans attended an anti-US rally in Pyongyang on Saturday
North Korea’s foreign minister has accused US President Donald Trump of declaring war on his country.
Ri Yong-ho told reporters in New York that North Korea reserved the right to shoot down US bombers.
This applied even when they were not in North Korean airspace, the minister added. The world “should clearly remember” it was the US that first declared war, Mr Ri said.
The two sides have been engaged in an increasingly angry war of words.
Despite weeks of tension, experts have played down the risk of direct conflict between the two.
After Mr Ri addressed the United Nations on Saturday, the US president responded by tweeting that Mr Ri and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “won’t be around much longer” if they continued their rhetoric.
Mr Ri’s response came as he was leaving New York, following the UN General Assembly.
“In light of the declaration of war by Trump, all options will be on the operations table of the supreme leadership of the DPRK [North Korea],” he added.
Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017 Report
End of Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
North Korea has continued to carry out nuclear and ballistic missile tests in recent weeks, in defiance of successive rounds of UN sanctions.
The country’s leaders say nuclear capabilities are its only deterrent against an outside world seeking to destroy it.
After the North’s latest and most powerful nuclear test earlier this month, the UN Security Council approved new sanctions on the country.
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Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionTrump is making the US an ‘inevitable target’, Mr Ri said on Saturday
