North Korea slammed President Trump for being just like President Obama, days after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson returned from his visit to the region.
“Tillerson admitted the failure of the U.S. efforts to denuclearize the DPRK for 20 years and end of Obama’s policy of ‘strategic patience’ during his recent tour,” an unnamed foreign ministry official told the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
“Now Tillerson is repeating what Obama touted … until he left the White House,” the official added.
The comments mark the first ones since Tillerson’s visit to the rogue nation, where he made headlines for tough talk on North Korea.
In Seoul, South Korea, Tillerson said “everything was on the table” in dealing with North Korea — including preemptive military strikes.
North Korea has appeared to try to taunt the Trump administration – testing ballistic missiles and launching rockets toward Japan.
On Friday Trump said on Twitter, “North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been ‘playing’ the United States for years. China has done little to help!”
But the unnamed North Korean official seemed undeterred.
“The nuclear force of the DPRK is the treasured sword of justice and the most reliable war deterrence to defend the socialist motherland and the life of its people,” the official told the state’s propaganda outfit, using the abbreviation of the country’s formal name.
“If the businessmen-turned-U.S. authorities thought that they would frighten the DPRK, they would soon know that their method would not work,” the official added.