The Latest: Kim says Trump will ‘pay dearly’ for threat

President Donald Trump gestures for people to take their seat at a luncheon with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Palace Hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, in New York. From left, Vice President Mike Pence, Trump, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump gestures for people to take their seat at a luncheon with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Palace Hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017, in New York. From left, Vice President Mike Pence, Trump, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and North Korea (all times local):

7:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump has added economic action to his fiery military threats against North Korea, authorizing stiffer new sanctions in response to the Koreans’ nuclear weapons advances.

Its leader Kim Jong Un issued a rare statement, branding Trump as “deranged” and warning he will “pay dearly” his threat to “totally destroy” the North if it attacks.

The exchange of super-heated rhetoric and unusually personal abuse between the adversaries will escalate tensions. North Korea has marched closer to achieving a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike America. The crisis dominated the Trump’s debut at this week’s annual U.N. General Assembly meeting.

Kim’s statement responded to Trump’s combative speech days earlier. Trump issued the warning of potential obliteration, and mocked the North’s young autocrat as a “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission.”

ADVERTISEMENT

___

1:55 p.m.

President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are discussing the ongoing crisis with North Korea.

Trump and Abe met Thursday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Trump praised Abe for “doing a great job for Japan” and then said they had “discussed in great detail” the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Abe, through a translator, echoed the president and said that pressure must be applied on Pyongyang “in a robust manner.”

Earlier Thursday, Trump signed an executive order that would enable the United States to sanction individual companies and institutions that finance trade with North Korea.

____

12:41 p.m.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that would enable the United States to sanction individual companies and institutions that finance trade with North Korea.

Trump made the announcement Thursday during a working luncheon with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Trump said the measure would also disrupt other trade avenues for North Korea in efforts to halt its nuclear weapons program.

The president said “tolerance for this disgraceful practice must end now.”

He also saluted China’s central bank for what he said was a move to stop its banks from trading with North Korea. That development was reported by Reuters Thursday.

The move comes just days after Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if forced to defend the U.S. or its allies.

ADVERTISEMENT

____

11:56 a.m.

President Donald Trump is meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday about the ongoing North Korea crisis.

Moon praised Trump’s bellicose speech to the United Nations about the threat, saying the U.S. had “responded in a very good way.”

Trump is expected to announce additional sanctions about North Korea on Thursday over its nuclear weapons program.

Moon deemed North Korea’s provocation “deplorable,” prompting Trump to compliment his word choice.

His opponent during last year’s election, Hillary Clinton, took criticism for referring to Trump’s supporters as belonging in “a basket of deplorables.”

Trump called it “a lucky word.’”

The president also said that the U.S. and South Korea were working on improving trade agreements though that was less important than addressing the North Korea threat.

____

10:17 a.m.

President Donald Trump says the U.S. will impose additional sanctions on North Korea over the communist country’s nuclear weapons buildup.

Asked Thursday about new punishment for the North, Trump said: “We will be putting more sanctions on North Korea.”

Trump told the U.N. General Assembly this week that the U.S. will have no choice but to “totally destroy” North Korea if the North continues to threaten the U.S. and its allies, including Asian neighbors South Korea and Japan.

Trump spoke Thursday at a meeting in New York with the president of Afghanistan.

North Korea is the likely topic of discussion when Trump holds separate talks later Thursday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (jah-yihn) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh AH’-bay).

The three leaders will also meet over lunch.