North Korea’s state media has blasted US President Donald Trump, calling him an "old lunatic."
"Frightened by the DPRK’s successful test-fire of the ICBM Hwasong-15, old lunatic Trump talked about a 'path of serious approach,'" a statement by the KCNA news agency said.
On November 28, the North tested the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The test reportedly failed but an operational Hwasong-15 is believed to have a range of over 13,000 kilometers and could reach the US mainland. Pyongyang commented on the launch, stating that it has completed its "nuclear force" with the development of the Hwasong-15 ICBM.
"Anti-DPRK hard-liners including the US ambassador to the United Nations let out such nonsense as 'dangerous circumstances,' going so impudently as to urge the DPRK not to 'make a mistake,'" the statement said.
"War maniacs from the US are urging 'Congress to discuss the issue of a preemptive attack' on the DPRK, referring to the need to 'withdraw American citizens' from South Korea, only to make a war against the DPRK an established fact," it concluded.
This statement comes in light of expert suggestions that North Korea may conduct another missile test on December 17, to mark the anniversary of former leader Kim Jong-il’s death.
READ MORE: All-Out War? US Senator Graham Warns Strike Against N Korea is 70% Likely
President Donald Trump has not yet commented on the fresh verbal attack.
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have exchanged a series of personal insults, with Trump calling Kim a "little rocket man" and Pyongyang calling the US president a "mentally deranged dotard."
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have reached unprecedented heights this year, with an increased number of North’s missile and nuclear tests and Washington’s repeated threats to respond militarily.
On Friday, US State Secretary Rex Tillerson said Washington will not accept any preconditions for talks with Pyongyang, including a "double freeze" agreement. He also said that the US will keep applying pressure on North Korea to force it to follow an "alternative course."
In an attempt to resolve the ongoing crisis, Russia and China earlier this year proposed the so-called "double freeze" plan, which stipulates the simultaneous halting of Pyongyang's nuclear tests and US-South Korean joint drills, which have repeatedly been called provocative by the North Korean leadership.
