President Trump in a tweet early Sunday dubbed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man,” adding that long gas lines in the nation are “[t]oo bad!”
“I spoke with President Moon [Jae-in] of South Korea last night,” the president wrote.
“Asked him how Rocket Man is doing. Long gas lines forming in North Korea. Too bad!”
{mosads}The White House said Trump and Moon discussed North Korea’s recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches during a call on Saturday.
“The two leaders noted that North Korea continues to defy the international community, even after the United Nations strongly condemned North Korea’s repeated provocations twice in the past week,” the White House said in a statement.
“President Trump and President Moon committed to continuing to take steps to strengthen deterrence and defense capabilities and to maximize economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea,” it added. “The two leaders noted that they will continue their close consultations next week when they meet on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.”
A South Korean official said the leaders agreed on the need for stronger sanctions against North Korea during their call, Reuters reported.
“The two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation, and exert stronger and practical sanctions on North Korea so that it realizes provocative actions leads to further diplomatic isolation and economic pressure,” Blue House spokesman for South Korea’s presidential office, Park Soo-hyun, said in a televised briefing, according to the news service.
Trump on Friday said that his administration’s options toward North Korea are “effective and overwhelming.”
“America and our allies will never be intimidated. We will defend our people, our nations and our civilization from all who dare to threaten our way of life,” he told Air Force personnel at Joint Base Andrews. “This includes the regime of North Korea, which has once again shown its utter contempt for its neighbors and for the entire world community.”
North Korea conducted its latest ICBM test last Thursday, days after the United Nations Security Council voted to impose the strongest sanctions to date on Pyongyang.
Last month, Trump threatened to unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea if the country continued to threaten the U.S.
Since then, North Korea has conducted multiple weapons tests, including one for what its government claimed was a hydrogen bomb.
— This report was updated at 8:53 a.m.