NEW YORK (CBSNews) — North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said President Trump is the only person “on a suicide mission,” one that is making “our rocket’s visit to the entire U.S. mainland inevitable all the more.”

In a fiery speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York Saturday (Sept. 23), Ri responded to a string of threats from Mr. Trump throughout the week — particularly Mr. Trump’s threat to “totally destroy” North Korea if the U.S. is “forced to defend itself or its allies.” Mr. Trump has said “rocket man” Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, is on a “suicide mission,” but Ri said “none other than Trump himself is on a suicide mission.”

“Due to his lacking of basic common knowledge and proper sentiment, he tried to insult the supreme dignity of my country by referring it to a rocket,” Ri said. “By doing so however, he committed an irreversible mistake of making our rocket’s visit to the entire U.S. mainland inevitable all the more.”

Ri also called the president a “mentally deranged person full of megalomania,” reflecting comments from Kim earlier this week, when Kim called Mr. Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard.”

The North Korean diplomat claimed the North Korean regime possesses a hydrogen bomb that can be coupled with an intercontinental ballistic missile, and is prepared to use its latest technology if needed. He said Pyongyang has a hydrogen bomb that that can fit on an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. On Friday, Ri said Korea was prepared to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean. Ri Yong Ho condemned the US president's remarks and warned there would be serious consequences for Trump's aggressive rhetoric: "None other than Trump himself is on a suicide mission," he said, adding that the US President may not realize what he "uttered from his mouth, but we will make sure that he bears consequences far beyond his words." 2:25 p.m.: Ri says Trump "tainted" U.N. with his comments

Ri said he feels compelled to respond to comments from Mr. Trump, saying he poses a threat to international security. Ri told world leaders that his country was “only a few steps away from the final gate of completion of the state’s nuclear force.”

Rebuking recent sanctions resolutions at the United Nations Security Council, he added that there was no “chance that North Korea would be shaken an inch or change its stance due to the harsher sanctions by the hostile forces.”

Turning to Trump, Ri used the U.S. president’s own words to criticize him. However, we do not have any intention at all to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against the countries that do not join in the U.S.military actions against the DPRK.”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres met with Ri after his speech, and expressed concern over tensions in the North Korean Peninsula, CBS News’ Pamela Falk reports, citing a readout of their conversation.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, at the United Nations General Assembly, says his country targeting the U.S. mainland is becoming more likely given the U.S. President's escalating rhetoric over their military programs. After this speech, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres met with Ri to express his concern with this situation.