North Korea Claims US Has Declared War

 

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho says the United States has declared war on his country.

Ri made the statement to reporters in New York City on Monday. He added that his country would take counter-actions, including shooting down American warplanes.

Ri directly linked the threat to one of U.S. President Donald Trump¹’s late-night Twitter messages over the weekend.

In a tweet late Saturday, Trump wrote, “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!” Ri had made a speech to the U.N. General Assembly earlier on Saturday.

In a show of force, the U.S. sent several B1 bombers² and fighter planes on a mission Saturday along the North and South Korean borders. A Pentagon spokesman said, "This mission is a demonstration³ of U.S. resolve and a clear message that the President has many military options to defeat any threat.”

Ri said on Monday, “Given the fact that this comes from someone who is currently holding the seat of United States presidency⁴, this is clearly a declaration of war."

Ri told reporters that "we [North Korea] will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down the United States strategic bombers, even when they are not yet inside the airspace border of our country.”

U.S. responses

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Monday, “We’ve not declared war on North Korea. She added that the suggestion was “absurd.”

At the Pentagon, spokesman Army Colonel Robert Manning told reporters, "If North Korea does not stop their provocative⁵ actions, we (the military) will make sure that we provide options to the president to deal with North Korea. We have the right to fly, sail and operate where legally permissible⁶ around the globe.”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

mission - n. a flight by an aircraft to perform a specific task

resolve - n. a strong determination to do something

countermeasure - n. an action intended to stop something

absurd - adj. silly, foolish or unreasonable⁷

provocative - adj. causing discussion, argument

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

6 permissible   

adj.可允许的，许可的

参考例句：

• Is smoking permissible in the theatre?在剧院里允许吸烟吗？
• Delay is not permissible,even for a single day.不得延误，即使一日亦不可。

7 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。