Trump threatens to destroy North Korea

US President Donald Trump calls North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a "rocket man" on suicide mission, and says the US may have to "totally destroy" DPRK.

US President Donald Trump addressed the 72nd Annual UN General Assembly in New York on September 19, 2017.
AFP

US President Donald Trump addressed the 72nd Annual UN General Assembly in New York on September 19, 2017.

US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that the United States will be forced to "totally destroy" North Korea unless Pyongyang backs down from its nuclear challenge, mocking North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a "rocket man" on a suicide mission.

Loud murmurs filled the green-marbled UN General Assembly hall when Trump issued his sternest warning yet to North Korea, whose ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests have rattled the globe.

Unless North Korea backs down, he said, "We will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."

"Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime," he said.

He urged United Nations member states to work together to isolate the Kim government until it ceases its "hostile" behaviour.

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"A rogue state"

A junior North Korean diplomat remained in the delegation's front-row seat for Trump's speech, the North Korean UN mission said.

Turning to Iran, Trump called the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama, was an embarrassment and hinted that he may not recertify the agreement when it comes up for a mid-October deadline.

"I don't think you've heard the last of it," he said.

He called Iran an "economically depleted rogue state" that exports violence.

TRT World's Ediz Tiyansan reports from New York.

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American interests

The speech marked his latest attempt to lay out his America First vision for a US foreign policy aimed at downgrading global bureaucracies, basing alliances on shared interests, and steering Washington away from nation-building exercises abroad.

Trump, who entered the White House eight months ago, told world leaders at the 193-member global body that the United States does not seek to impose its will on other nations and will respect other countries' sovereignty.

"I will defend America's interests above all else," he said. 

"But in fulfilling our obligations to other nations we also realise it's in everyone's interest to seek a future where all nations can be sovereign, prosperous and secure."

Reading carefully from a script, Trump said the US military would soon be the strongest it has ever been.

Turning to Venezuela, Trump called the collapsing situation there "completely unacceptable" and said the United States cannot stand by and watch.

"We cannot stand by and watch," he said.

Nuclear threat

Shortly before Trump's speech, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed from the General Assembly lectern for statesmanship to avoid war with North Korea.

Guterres warned the world's leaders Tuesday that the threat of a nuclear attack is at its highest level since the end of the Cold War and "fiery talk can lead to fatal misunderstandings."

"This is the time for statesmanship," said the former prime minister of Portugal. "We must not sleepwalk our way into war."

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Guterres, a former head of the UN refugee agency, also spoke of being "pained to see the way refugees and migrants have been stereotyped and scapegoated - and to see political figures stoke resentment in search of electoral gain."

"I myself am a migrant, as many of you are. But no-one expected me to risk my life on a leaky boat or cross a desert in the back of a truck to find employment outside my country of birth," he said. 

"Safe migration cannot be limited to the global elite."

Guterres also warned of the dangers of climate change and urged world leaders to implement the 2015 Paris climate agreement to reduce emissions "with ever greater ambition."

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