A North Korean state newspaper on Thursday called President Trump a “psychopath” and said that he was weighing a pre-emptive strike against the country to divert attention from political turmoil in the U.S., The Washington Post reported.
The commentary warns South Korea, a key U.S. ally in the region, against following the lead of “psychopath Trump,” saying that doing so “will only lead to disaster.”
It also suggests that Trump is facing a “tough situation” at home, including his possible impeachment, and is following in the footsteps of other U.S. presidents in escalating tensions to distract from domestic political trouble.
The commentary came three days after the death of Otto Warmbier, the American man who returned to the U.S. last week after being detained in North Korea for 17 months.
During his detention, details of Warmbier’s condition remained unknown to his family and U.S. officials.
Upon news of his return, he was revealed to have been in a coma since March 2016.
Warmbier’s death has further raised tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, who have increasingly butted heads over Pyongyang’s rapidly advancing nuclear and missiles programs.
In his first months in office, Trump sought to pressure China, Pyongyang’s only major ally, to rein in North Korea and help stymie its weapons programmes.
Trump, however, tweeted on Tuesday that seeking China’s assistance in addressing North Korea “has not worked out.”
Said Trump, “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi and China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!”
It wasn’t clear exactly what the president meant by the tweet or whether he would continue to seek Beijing’s cooperation on the matter.
