SEOUL, Feb. 12 (UPI) — North Korea on Wednesday slammed the United States over President Trump’s announced aim to take control of the Gaza Strip and permanently displace its residents, calling it “slaughter and robbery” in a commentary carried in state-run media.
“The whole world is shocked by the tyrannical remarks that trample the thin hopes of the Palestinians who wish for peace and a stable life in the region,” the Korean Central News Agency commentary said.
The unsigned article condemned the “innate nature of the United States to survive through slaughter and robbery,” citing not only Gaza but also the Trump administration’s calls to seize control of other territories including Greenland and the Panama Canal.
“This is the United States, a brutal and ruthless usurper who will ruthlessly trample on the lives and rights of other countries and peoples, and even take away their territories and sovereignty, for their own benefit,” the commentary said.
North Korea has no diplomatic relations with Israel and recognizes Palestinian sovereignty over almost the entire Israeli territory.
The North’s remarks come one week after Trump said that the United States would take over Gaza and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” He called on allies Jordan and Egypt to take in the war-ravaged territory’s 1.9 million residents.
On Sunday, Trump confirmed that his plans for Gaza’s displaced residents would not allow them to return to their homes. In a Fox News interview, Trump called the proposal a “real estate development for the future.” When asked if Palestinians would have a right to return to their territory, he said, “No, they wouldn’t.”
The Arab world has widely rejected the Gaza plan, as has a broad cross-section of countries including Britain, Germany, Russia and China.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II met with Trump in the White House on Tuesday and offered to take in 2,000 Palestinian children who are suffering from cancer or other severe illnesses. However, he later said he reiterated Jordan’s “steadfast position” against displacing Palestinians.
“This the unified Arab position,” he wrote on X. “Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all.”
Egypt has also denounced the plan and on Sunday announced it would host an emergency Arab summit in Cairo on Feb. 27 to discuss the “new and dangerous developments” concerning the Palestinian territories.
North Korea’s statement came one day after Pyongyang spoke out against the arrival of a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine to the South Korean port city of Busan this weekend.
In a commentary carried by KCNA, a Defense Ministry spokesperson called the sub an “undeniable threat to the security environment of the DPRK and an instable factor further escalating the military tension in the region.”
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
North Korea regularly condemns U.S.-South Korea joint military drills as rehearsals for an invasion. The allies are currently conducting a three-week live-fire exercise near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.
Pyongyang called the live-fire drills “military provocations being committed in a frantic way” and warned that “hostile and risky actions will only lead to undesired results.”