North Korea’s state newspaper Rodong Sinmun demanded a “trial” in the country against U.S. President Donald Trump for his “heinous crimes.” This pronouncement came shortly after the State Department announced it had once again placed North Korea on its state sponsors of terrorism list.
A column this week in another government publication, the Minju Choson, disparaged Trump as a “moneygrubber” for selling American weapons to South Korea and Japan, arguing that they need to be well-equipped in the event of a North Korean attack.
Dictator Kim Jong-un himself issued some comments on Tuesday against America while reportedly inspecting a car factory, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). North Korea maintains a variety of outlets, all controlled by the state, designed to disseminate anti-American, pro-communist propaganda.
Speaking at the car complex inspection, Kim is quoted as dismissing “the hostile forces’ desperate efforts to block the advance of [North Korea],” according to South Korean news service Yonhap. Thanks to these forces – namely, America and South Korea – Kim argued that North Korea could now “produce a great miracle startling the world.”
That report did not directly attack the United States to the extent that others published subsequently did. The Rodong Sinmun diatribe published Tuesday appeared to be an attack on Washington for designating the country a state sponsor of terrorism for the first time since 2008 but did not mention the designation specifically, according to a KCNA report produced in the wire service KCNA Watch. As KCNA’s website is blocked throughout much of the world, KCNA Watch reproduces easily shareable copies of its articles.
“The hideous crimes committed by the lunatic president of the U.S. are a blatant challenge to the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK, a wanton violation of its sovereignty and a vicious insult to the genuine life of the Korean people,” Rodong Sinmun reportedly argued.
“Trump is a heinous criminal who should be sternly punished at the DPRK’s court and at the court of justice and human conscience,” it continued, later accusing Trump of having “malignantly slandered and insulted the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK.”
“The army and people of the DPRK regard the dignity of their supreme leadership dearer than their own lives, and they show no mercy to anyone attempting to hurt it in the least,” Rodong warned.
Rodong Sinmun had sentenced Trump to “death” last week in another editorial for, again, allegedly having “malignantly hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK.”
Rodong Sinmun routinely refers to Trump as old and insane. Trump has responded by vowing to “NEVER” call Kim “short and fat” on Twitter.
A separate publication, Minju Choson, accused Trump of attempting to swindle other Asian states into buying advanced American defense equipment. “A commentary of Minju Joson Tuesday says that Trump has disclosed his inborn nature as a moneygrubber,” KCNA asserted on Tuesday.
“Trump is letting out such lunatic outbursts as ‘total destruction of north,’ ‘annihilation,’ ‘calm before storm,’ thereby maximizing the stand-off with the DPRK,” the publication continued. “An aim lurking behind this is to make munitions monopolies rake up profits and make a bundle of money in return.”
“Trump is, indeed, trader and moneygrubber earning money in return for pushing the destiny of the U.S. mainland and the Americans into danger,” it concluded.
In announcing the designation of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, Trump asserted that North Korea “has repeatedly supported acts of terrorism, including assassinations, on foreign soil.”
“Should have happened a long time ago,” Trump later told reporters.
The parents of Otto Warmbier, an American citizen killed through torture in North Korea after being accused of touching a political poster, have advocated for designating North Korea a terror state since their son’s death this year.