The president has yet to publicly address the ethnic violence in the Southeast Asian nation.
Kim Jong Un on Thursday reacted angrily to Trump's remarks and actions this week, calling the president a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” and Trump's earlier speech at the U.N. “unprecedented rude nonsense.”
U.N. ambassador’s star rises within the White House as Rex Tillerson continues to struggle at State.
When the word “deplorable” was used in a discussion of North Korea's missile program, the president cut in to say it was a “very lucky word” for him and “millions of people,” in a reference to the 2016 campaign.
The secretary of state seemed to be caught off guard while briefing reporters after Trump had spoken earlier in the day.
The president has yet to name an ambassador to South Korea amid growing tensions and anxiety over the North’s nuclear weapons threat.
He called on world leaders to rally in the fight to defeat murderous regimes and “loser terrorists.”
"We will have no choice but to destroy North Korea,” Trump said, before calling the North Korean leader by a nickname he gave him over the weekend. “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself.”
The president’s nationalist agenda has led to widespread anxiety among the American allies and partners gathered for the U.N. General Assembly.
Trump had talked dismissively about the U.N. during his campaign but in his remarks pledged to be “partners” going forward.
