Trump the one on suicide mission: N Korea

Bloomberg

North Korea’s foreign minister unleashed a torrent of criticism at the United Nations General Assembly in response to President Donald Trump’s speech at the same venue, saying Pyongyang is ready for a preemptive nuclear attack if needed.
Ri Yong Ho’s comments came hours after US Air Force bombers flew over international waters
east of North Korea, and a tremor struck close to North Korea’s nuclear test site.
“The very reason the DPRK had to possess nuclear weapons is because of the U.S.,” Ri told the gathering in a 22-minute speech, using an acronym for North Korea’s formal name. “The US hostile policy and nuclear threats have continued over 70 years, and these have led the situation on the Korean peninsula to a touch-and-go point.”
While tensions between the two countries may be decades old, the new US president has pushed Pyongyang closer to the tipping point, Ri said. He cited Trump’s “lacking of basic common knowledge and proper sentiment,” and the US president’s insults toward North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un.
“None other than Trump himself is on a suicide mission,” Ri said through the UN’s simultaneous translation. “In case innocent lives of the US are lost because of this suicide attack, Trump will be held totally responsible.”
Trump, in his debut speech to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 19, threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if it didn’t abandon its nuclear weapons programme. He mocked Kim with a taunt first used on Twitter days before: “ Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime.”
He followed that up Saturday night on Twitter, posting: “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at UN. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!”
US Air Force bombers flew over international waters east of North Korea as tension simmers between the two nations and their respective leaders, and a tremor earlier struck close to North Korea’s nuclear test site. The US B-1B Lancer bombers, based in Guam, and F-15C Eagle fighter escorts from Okinawa, Japan, flew the farthest north of the Demilitarised Zone, or DMZ, any US. fighter or bomber aircraft have flown off North Korea’s coast in the 21st century, Dana White, the chief Pentagon spokeswoman, said.
The exercises were meant to underscore “the seriousness with which we take DPRK’s reckless behavior,” White said, using an acronym for North Korea.
“This mission is a demonstration of US resolve and a clear message that the President has many military options.”
US analysts now estimate that North Korea may have as many as 60 nuclear weapons, according to a Washington Post report.