N. Korea: 'Parade Goes On' Despite 'Barking Dog'

NK's foreign minister wasn't scared by Trump's UN speech
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 21, 2017 6:21 AM CDT
N. Korea: 'Parade Goes on' Despite 'Barking Dog'
President Donald Trump addresses the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

North Korea has joined a host of other countries in condemning President Trump's speech at the UN. Trump's Tuesday speech, in which he vowed to "totally destroy" North Korea if the country threatened the US or its allies, amounted to "the sound of a barking dog," Ri Yong-ho said from New York on Wednesday, per the BBC. "There is a saying that goes: 'Even when dogs bark, the parade goes on,'" said Ri, who is due to make a speech at the UN General Assembly on Friday. "If he was thinking he could scare us with the sound of a dog barking, that's really a dog dream," meaning ludicrous, he added. Asked what he thought of Trump referring to Kim Jong Un as "Rocket Man," Ri simply said, "I feel sorry for his aides."

The UN General Assembly presents a rare opportunity for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to meet face-to-face with Ri, but Tillerson suggested the US couldn't have a "matter-of-fact discussion with North Korea because we don't know how their means of communication and behavior will be," reports CNN. Trump is due to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday after speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone on Monday. Though the US wants China to pressure North Korea, which gets 90% of its imports from Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeated Thursday that removing the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea was key to reducing tensions, per Reuters. (More North Korea stories.)

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