North Korea slams Rubio’s ‘coarse’ remarks, vows tough response

By Soo-Hyang Choi

North Korea lashed out at US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent characterization of Pyongyang as a “rogue” state, vowing to “never tolerate” any provocation by Washington.

“Rubio’s coarse and nonsensical remarks only show directly the incorrect view of the new US administration on the DPRK and will never help promote the US interests as he wishes,” North Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried Monday by the official Korean Central News Agency. DPRK stands for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Rubio referred to North Korea as one of the rogue states along with Iran that the US has to deal with, speaking in an interview on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Show posted online on Thursday.

His remarks came days after President Donald Trump indicated a willingness to reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for renewed talks. During his first term as president, Trump held summit meetings with Kim in a bet that his personal efforts at diplomacy could overcome sticking points between the two sides that have persisted for years.

The collapse of their talks exposed just how far apart the adversaries remained even after the face-to-face meetings.

While Kim hasn’t directly namechecked Trump since his election victory in November, the North Korean leader said confrontation with hostile nations is inevitable, and he called for ramping up the country’s “nuclear shield.”

In a separate statement, North Korea denounced Trump’s missile defense plan, saying it would lead to the deployment of more advanced US weapons systems in the region.

“We will never tolerate any provocation of the US, which has been always hostile to the DPRK and will be hostile to it in the future, too, but will take tough counteraction corresponding to it as usual,” the foreign ministry statement said.