North Korea’s foreign minister escalated tensions with the United States on Monday, saying that President Trump’s threatening comments about the country and its leadership were “a declaration of war” and that North Korea had the right to shoot down American warplanes, even if they are not in North Korean air space.
The comments by the foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, came as he was just about to leave the United Nations after a week of General Assembly meetings in New York.
Referring to Mr. Trump’s assertion that the North Korean leadership may not “be around much longer,” Mr. Ri said at a news conference that the question of “who would be around much longer will be answered” by North Korea.
Mr. Ri, speaking two days after American warplanes flew close to the North’s coast, added that “in light of the declaration of war by Trump, all options will be on the operations table of the supreme leadership” of North Korea.
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