North Korean leader: Trump is 'mentally deranged'

Michael James | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Haley: Goal is to cut North Korea 'reckless behavior' US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley says the goal of the latest sanctions against North Korea is to cut the continued 'reckless behavior' of its leader. Haley's comments come after wrapping up a busy week at the UN. (Sept. 21)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called President Trump a "mentally deranged dotard" and threatened to "tame (Trump) with fire" for making comments to the United Nations about destroying the rogue nation.

"The mentally deranged behavior of the U.S. president openly expressing on the UN arena the unethical will to 'totally destroy' a sovereign state, beyond the boundary of threats of regime change or overturn of social system, makes even those with normal thinking faculty think about discretion and composure," Kim said in a statement released Friday morning on North Korean media.

Kim said that Trump is “unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country.” He also described the president as “a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire."

The North Korean dictator concluded his comments with a final threat to Trump and the U.S.: "I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire."

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York that his country’s response to Trump's threat to destroy the North Korean regime “could be the most powerful detonation of an H-bomb (hydrogen bomb) in the Pacific,” according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

“We have no idea about what actions could be taken as it will be ordered by leader Kim Jong Un.” Ri added, according to the Associated Press.

The ongoing war of words between Trump and Kim on opposite sides of the Pacific have been exacerbated in recent months amid growing tension over North Korea's nuclear weapons build-up.

Trump said Thursday he will ramp up economic pressure on North Korea by signing an executive order that cracks down on anyone who does business with the hermit nation.

Even amid such sanctions and threats, Trump and his aides say they hope to resolve the stand-off over nuclear weapons without resorting to military action.

Kim's latest rhetoric follows Trump’s combative speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday where he mocked Kim as a “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission,” and said that if “forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”

Kim said Trump’s remarks “have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last.” He added that he is “thinking hard” about his response and that Trump “will face results beyond his expectation.”

It is unusual for the North Korean leader to issue such a statement in his own name. It will further escalate the war of words between the adversaries as the North moves closer to perfecting a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike America.

In recent months, the North has launched a pair of intercontinental missiles believed capable of striking the continental United States and another pair that soared over Japanese territory. Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date, drawing stiffer U.N. sanctions.

Contributing: The Associated Press