North Korea's top diplomat issued a disparaging response to President Donald Trump on Thursday, likening his United Nations speech to "the sound of a barking dog."
In his first speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said he would "totally destroy" North Korea if the isolated regime threatened the U.S. or its allies.
"If he was thinking he could scare us with the sound of a dog barking, that's really a dog dream," Ri Yong Ho, North Korean Foreign minister, told reporters near the UN headquarters in New York.
In Korean, a "dog dream" is one that typically refers to something absurd or unrealistic.
'Rocket man is on a suicide mission'
Pyongyang has continued to develop its nuclear and weapons program in spite of international condemnation and a UN ban.
"The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea," Trump told the UN.
"North Korea's reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatens the entire world with unthinkable loss of human life ... No nation on Earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with a nuclear weapon and missiles," he added.
Later in Trump's address to the UN, he made reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when he said, "Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime."
When Ri Yong Ho was asked for his thoughts on Trump's new nickname for the North's leader, he replied, "I feel sorry for his aides."
Earlier this month, Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest ever nuclear test.
In response, the UN passed fresh sanctions against the country in order to restrict oil imports and ban textile exports. The action taken by the international community is an attempt to starve North Korea of fuel and income for further development of its weapons programs.
