North Korea’s state-run propaganda machine has seized on Donald Trump’s aborted trip to the DMZ, calling him a “coward” for canceling his visit to the heavily fortified border. And just to make sure there is nothing lost in translation, state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmin said Trump deserves the “death penalty” for insulting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

An editorial in the ruling party newspaper focused its anger on Trump in a recent issue, criticizing him after he vowed to bring the North Korean regime to heel if it doesn’t surrender its nuclear weapons and half its program of nuclear enrichment during a speech to South Korean lawmakers last week during the beginning of Trump’s 12-day, five-nation tour across Asia – which was intended to rally regional support for the US’s push to force North Korea to disarm.

“The worst crime for which he can never be pardoned is that he dared [to] malignantly hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership,” the editorial said.

“He should know that he is just a hideous criminal sentenced to death by the Korean people,” it added.

Though Trump recently reengaged in the verbal jousting last week when he tweeted that he “would never call Kim ‘short and fat’” – apparently response to a message broadcast on state TV. There has been no love lost between the two, who have traded insults since Trump took office in late January. However, in a sign that relations between the two long-time adversaries might be warming, the North has refrained from carrying out another missile test since its Sept 15. launch. Concerns about military action have abated since the summer, when Trump swore to attack North Korea with “fire and fury the likes of which the world has never seen” if Kim Jong Un continued to threaten Americans.

The Guardian pointed out that the members of the ruling Kim dynasty – past and present – enjoy near god-like status in North KoThe editorial also took a dig at Trump’s failure to tour the demilitarised zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas – a traditional stop-off for senior US officials visiting the South.

The editorial also took a dig at Trump’s failure to tour the DMZ, which divides the two Koreas and is a traditional stop-off for senior US officials visiting the South.

Trump’s helicopter taking him to the DMZ had turned back after just five minutes due to bad weather – an explanation North Korea has dismissed as a cover for “cowardice”.

“It wasn’t the weather,” the editorial said: “He was just too scared to face the glaring eyes of our troops.”