North Korea’s foreign minister has accused US President Donald Trump of declaring war on his country and said Pyongyang had the right to shoot down US bombers. Ri Yong-ho said this could apply even if the warplanes were not in North Korea’s airspace.
“Last weekend Trump claimed that our leadership wouldn’t be around much longer and declared a war on our country,” Ri said. “Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make all self-defensive counter measures, including the right to shoot down the United States strategic bombers at any time even when they are not yet inside the aerospace border of our country,” Ri added.
State Department spokesperson Katina Adams responded to the comments saying, “the United States has not ‘declared war’ on North Korea. We continue to seek a peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Adams said. She also defended the right of the US to conduct flyovers in international airspace: “No nation has the right to fire on other nations’ aircraft or ships in international airspace or waters.” Mr Ri’s comments were a response to Mr Trump’s tweet that the North Korean leadership would not “be around much longer” if they continued their rhetoric.
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