CNN's Jim Acosta on Wednesday defended his decision to shout a question at North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un while in Singapore, and said the world would have thought less of the White House press corps if reporters stayed silent.

While in Singapore, Acosta yelled out at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, "Will you give up your nuclear weapons, sir?"

"I couldn't think of anything else to ask North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, but whether he's going to give up his nuclear weapons," he said Wednesday on CNN.



"There's a dictator in front of you who has nuclear weapons, why on earth wouldn't you ask that question?" Chief White House Correspondent @acosta on why he asked Kim Jong Un if he would give up his nukes https://t.co/beqITLLi4Z pic.twitter.com/ZzylwQ8itE — New Day (@NewDay) June 13, 2018



"There's a dictator right in front of you who has nuclear weapons. Why on Earth would you not ask that question?" he asked.

"The question I have is, if you play the same video of him walking past us with President Trump, and you turn the sound down, and the reporters covering this trip didn't ask any questions, what would the rest of the world have said about the White House press corps, if we hadn't asked any questions of Kim Jong Un when he was right in front of us?" he asked.

"He's threatened to vaporize parts of the United States. My goodness, I could not have thought of anything else better to ask at that moment than that question."

[Opinion: Jim Acosta introduces Kim Jong Un to a free press]