Trump a 'destroyer' begging for war - N Korea

  • 12/11/2017

North Korea says US President Donald Trump's first trip to Asia showed he was a "destroyer" and he had begged for war on the Korean peninsula.

"Trump, during his visit, laid bare his true nature as destroyer of world peace and stability and begged for a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula," the foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

Mr Trump warned North Korea on Wednesday not to underestimate the United States as he wrapped up his visit to South Korea.

The North Korean spokesman said nothing would deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear weapons programme.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has encouraged his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in to resume dialogue with North Korea, state news agency Mr Xinhua reports.

The two were meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit of Asia Pacific leaders in the Vietnamese city of Danang.

Earlier on Saturday, Moon's office said the leaders of South Korea and China understood the need to manage the security situation on the Korean peninsula in a stable manner and agreed to resolve North Korea-related tensions peacefully after a summit meeting.

Tension on the Korean peninsula rose last month as North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and Mr Trump exchanged war-like threats and insults over the North's nuclear and missile development program.

China has been urged by both South Korea and the United States to take a more active role in curbing North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions.

Beijing has said it is complying with United Nations Security Council sanctions and doing all it can to curb the isolated state's provocative actions.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Mr Xi have also agreed to deepen cooperation between the two countries on North Korea, Abe said on Saturday after meeting Mr Xi.

They also agreed to accelerate talks for an early implementation of a communication mechanism between their military forces, and to hold a trilateral summit with South Korea at the earliest possible date, Abe told reporters.

Abe said Mr Xi had told him the meeting marked a "new start of Japan-China relations".

Reuters