After President Trumps incendiary speech at the UN general assembly, in which he stated that he would “totally destroy” North Korea if the US or its allies were threatened, many wondered how the officials in North Korea would respond.

Shortly after, when the North Korean foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, took the stage, he stated that Trump was the one “on a suicide mission,” and that he was making, “our rocket’s visit to the entire U.S. mainland inevitable all the more.” He also went on to say that North Korea was a “responsible” nuclear power and that they would not threaten those who didn’t join with the U.S.

Later that week, on Thursday September 21st, an official statement by Kim Jong Un was released by the Korean Central News Agency. This surprised many as it seems to be the first time a leader of North Korea issued a statement globally using their name. He talked of how Trump was creating a worldwide concern and went on to share, “A frightened dog barks louder.”

He talked of “the mentally deranged behavior of the U.S. president”, which seemed to be a similar theme as the foreign minister Ri also addressed Trump’s seeming unbalance in his UN speech, “Due to his lacking of basic common knowledge and proper sentiment, he tried to insult the supreme dignity of my country by referring it to a rocket.”

The end of Kim Jong Un’s speech perhaps was the most inflammatory of all the back and forth between these two leaders, stating that, “Whatever Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation. I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire.”

Results from these exchanges have yet to be seen, but it has many anxiously looking for a peaceful resolution. And, just this Monday, the foreign minister held a press conference, saying “…last weekend Trump claimed that our leadership wouldn’t be around much longer. And hence, at last, he declared a war on our country,” Ri stated. The foreign minister is referring to a tweet the president released on Saturday, “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!” After those statements, the North Korean official departed, allowing no questions. 

Later that day a statement was released at the Pentagon, saying that it would, “provide U.S. President Donald Trump with options to deal with North Korea if its provocations continue, after North Korea’s foreign minister said his country reserved the right to shoot down U.S. bombers even if they are not in its air space,” as reported by Reuters.

For now, this back and forth has yielded no serious results, but many are anxious in what could possibly result from these exchanges between the two leaders and the effect these could have on not only American and North Korean citizens, but also the global community as a whole.