REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco 
 
 North Korea’s foreign minister likened U.S. President Donald Trump to a “barking dog” on Thursday, after Trump warned he would “totally destroy” the North if it threatened the United States and its allies. The decision to send aid to North Korea was not popular in South Korea, hitting President Moon Jae-in’s approval rating. It also raised concerns in Japan and the United States, and followed new U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its sixth nuclear test earlier this month. In statement Wednesday, the South's Unification Ministry said the decision to resume aid was in line with "the government's stance that it separates the provision of humanitarian aid from politics and it continues to provide aid to improve the humanitarian situation of North Korean residents and the quality of their lives." The precise timing and actual provision would be dependent on various factors, including "inter-Korean relations," the ministry said in a statement. The South said it planned to send $4.5 million worth of medical treatments, nursery facilities and nutritional products for children and pregnant women through the World Food Programme, and $3.5 million worth of medicinal treatments and nutritional products through UNICEF. Separately, on Thursday South Korea said it would send fresh humanitarian aid to the North for the first time in nearly two years. Humanitarian aid 
 
 Trump is scheduled to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in Thursday, two important US allies on North Korea's doorstop. In an address on Tuesday, Trump escalated his standoff with North Korea over its nuclear challenge, threatening to “totally destroy” the country of 26 million people if the North threatened the United States and its allies.  Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Mr Trump has taken to calling Kim Jong-un "rocket man" 
 
 North Korea's top diplomat has called US President Donald Trump's speech to the UN "the sound of a barking dog". North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, left, shakes hands with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong Guk as he leaves the Pyongyang Airport on Tuesday. “There is a saying that goes: ‘Even when dogs bark, the parade goes on’,” Ri said in televised remarks to reporters in front of a hotel near the U.N. headquarters in New York. “If (Trump) was thinking about surprising us with dog-barking sounds then he is clearly dreaming,” he said. Asked by reporters what he thought of Trump calling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “rocket man”, Ri quipped: “I feel sorry for his aides.” 
 
 North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3 and has launched numerous missiles this year, including two intercontinental ballistic missiles and two other rockets that flew over Japan.
– North Korea has joined a host of other countries in condemning President Trump's speech at the UN. Trump's Tuesday speech, in which he vowed to "totally destroy" North Korea if the country threatened the US or its allies, amounted to "the sound of a barking dog," Ri Yong-ho said from New York on Wednesday, per the BBC. "There is a saying that goes: 'Even when dogs bark, the parade goes on,'" said Ri, who is due to make a speech at the UN General Assembly on Friday. "If he was thinking he could scare us with the sound of a dog barking, that's really a dog dream," meaning ludicrous, he added. Asked what he thought of Trump referring to Kim Jong Un as "Rocket Man," Ri simply said, "I feel sorry for his aides." The UN General Assembly presents a rare opportunity for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to meet face-to-face with Ri, but Tillerson suggested the US couldn't have a "matter-of-fact discussion with North Korea because we don't know how their means of communication and behavior will be," reports CNN. Trump is due to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday after speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone on Monday. Though the US wants China to pressure North Korea, which gets 90% of its imports from Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeated Thursday that removing the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea was key to reducing tensions, per Reuters.