North Korea warns US threats ‘a big miscalculation’

North Korean officials warned in a letter sent to the Australian parliament in recent days that Pyongyang is a “nuclear threat” and will not back down in the face of threats from President Trump.

“If Trump thinks that he would bring the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea], a nuclear power, to its knees through nuclear war threat, it will be a big miscalculation and an expression of ignorance,” the letter reads in a portion published by The Sydney Morning Herald.

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The letter, which is titled “Open Letter to Parliaments of Different Countries,” was drafted by North Korea’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and was dispatched to the North Korean embassy in Jakarta before reaching Australia. 

North Korea tells legislative bodies from other countries in the letter to “discharge their due mission and duty in realizing the desire of mankind for international justice and peace with sharp vigilance against the heinous and reckless moves of the Trump administration” if they desire peace.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters on the note was an unordinary form of communication. 

“It is not the way they usually publish their global messages. The collective strategy of imposing maximum diplomatic and economic pressure through sanctions on North Korea is working. This is a response to the pressure,” she said.

The letter comes as tensions between Washington and Pyongyang remain heightened.

Trump blasted North Korea on the floor of the United Nations last month in the wake of their repeated intercontinental ballistic missile tests, threatening to “totally destroy” the country. 

North Korea’s foreign minister responded by threatening to drop a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean. 

While Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said the U.S. is trying to diplomatically work with North Korea, Trump has appeared at times opposed to that approach. 

The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier put on a display of strength off the Korean Peninsula on Thursday to warn North Korea against any aggressive military action, according to Reuters.