SEOUL, Feb. 3 (UPI) — North Korea denounced U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday for calling it a “rogue state” and threatened a strong counteraction in the regime’s first public criticism of the Trump administration.
In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, an unnamed spokesman for the North’s Foreign Ministry called Rubio’s remarks during an interview Thursday with journalist Megyn Kelly “nonsense.”
“It is necessary to mention how absurd and illogical it is that the most depraved state in the world brands another country a rogue state,” the spokesman said.
“We will never tolerate any provocation of the U.S., which has been always hostile to the DPRK and will be hostile to it in the future, too, but will take tough counteraction corresponding to it as usual,” the official added.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
Pyongyang’s belligerent stance comes amid speculation that U.S. President Donald Trump may look to revive negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. During his first term, Trump held two high-profile summits with Kim and met him briefly a third time at the DMZ.
The diplomatic outreach failed to result in a nuclear deal, however, and Pyongyang has accelerated the development of its weapons programs in the intervening years.
Last week, Kim toured a uranium enrichment facility and said it was “indispensable for the country to steadily strengthen the nuclear shield.”
The North recently declared itself “a responsible nuclear weapons state” at a U.N. disarmament conference in Geneva while blaming the United States for an “astronomical amount of arms buildup and undisguised nuclear proliferation.”
On his return to the White House, Trump touted his relationship with Kim and surprised allies by acknowledging Pyongyang’s nuclear status.
“I was very friendly with [Kim],” Trump told reporters during a press availability in the Oval Office. “He liked me, I liked him. We got along very well.”
“Now, he is a nuclear power,” Trump said. “I think he’ll be happy to see I’m coming back.”
South Korea has been quick to dismiss the possibility of accepting North Korea’s nuclear status, which is granted only to five countries under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT.
On Monday, the South’s Unification Ministry said that Washington and Seoul are still aiming for the complete elimination of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.
“I would like to reiterate that it is North Korea that undermines international norms and threatens the peace of the international community,” ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam said at a press briefing. “South Korea, the United States and the international community remain firm and united on the goal of the complete denuclearization of North Korea.”