﻿North Korea has threatened to redeploy its arsenal of formidable insults against Donald Trump, referring to him once more as a “dotard” if he continues to use nicknames like “Rocket Man” for Kim Jong-un.

The threat, issued by the first deputy foreign minister, Choe Son-hui, has a serious undertone. The last time the two leaders were exchanging epithets, their countries were on the brink of conflict, and North Korea was conducting nuclear and long-range missile tests.

Kim suspended such tests in 2018 as he pursued a policy of summit diplomacy with Trump, but the regime has been signaling with increasing urgency that it is growing impatient that the leaders’ talks have not led to progress on lifting sanctions.

Earlier this week, the regime hinted it would abandon the moratorium in the next few weeks, presenting the US with an unwanted “Christmas gift”.

Since nuclear talks with the US stalled, North Korean propaganda has aimed abuse at senior US officials but avoided criticising Trump personally. For his part, Trump has consistently praised Kim, and boasted about their close relationship.

At the height of the diplomatic thaw, Trump had claimed he and Kim “fell in love”.

During his visit to the UK for a Nato leaders meeting however, Trump acknowledged that the North Korean had continued to test short- and medium-range missiles, and revived a nickname he had not used since the summitry began.

He observed Kim “likes sending rockets up, doesn’t he?” adding that: “That’s why I call him Rocket Man.”

In her response, Choe said Trump’s remarks “prompted the waves of hatred of our people against the US” because they had demonstrated “no courtesy when referring to the supreme leadership of dignity” of North Korea.

The threat to deploy suggests that Pyongyang is well aware that Trump is thin-skinned and takes personal insults very seriously.

“If any language and expressions stoking the atmosphere of confrontation are used once again on purpose at a crucial moment as now, that must really be diagnosed as the relapse of the dotage of a dotard,” Choe said.

Kim first used the antiquated term to refer to Trump in September 2017, in response to Trump’s hostile rhetoric at his first speech to the UN. At the time, Kim also called Trump a “a frightened dog” and “a gangster playing with fire”.

On Wednesday, the North’s military chief, Pak Jong-chon, also warned that the use of force against the North would cause a “horrible” consequence for the Americans. He said North Korea will take unspecified “prompt corresponding actions at any level” if the US takes any military action.

During a visit to London, Trump on Tuesday said his relationship with Kim was “really good” but also called for him to follow up on a commitment to denuclearize. Trump added, “We have the most powerful military we ever had, and we are by far the most powerful country in the world and hopefully we don’t have to use it. But if we do, we will use it.”