WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- North Korea 's rhetoric toward the United States has always had a certain bizarre , over-the-top quality to it . Under the Bush administration it labeled Undersecretary of State John Bolton `` human scum . '' `` Complete and irreversible denuclearization is the only viable path for North Korea , '' Hillary Clinton says . But the North Korea 's latest comments about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are stunningly personal . An unnamed North Korean official quoted by the state-run KCNA news agency calls Clinton `` by no means intelligent '' and a `` funny lady . '' `` Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping , '' he said . The remarks seem to be a reply to Clinton 's comments to ABC News in which she compared North Korea 's leadership to `` small children and unruly teenagers and people who are demanding attention . '' Behind the scenes , U.S officials for months have made similar comparisons , claiming the Pyonyang 's modus operandi is to be deliberately provocative , to `` act out '' to get the United States ' attention and be rewarded for its `` misbehavior . '' This time , they say , it 's not going to work . Clinton said Pyonyang has `` no friends left . '' After North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test in May and fired several ballistic missiles over Japan , the United States rallied the United Nations to pass resolution 1874 , which invoked strong sanctions , including targeting top North Korean officials connected to Pyonyang 's nuclear program . Significantly , the resolution was supported by Russia and China , countries that have been reluctant to impose strict sanctions on North Korea . `` Complete and irreversible denuclearization is the only viable path for North Korea , '' Clinton said at the Association of Southeast Asia Nations meeting in Thailand this week . `` We do not intend to reward North Korea just for returning to the table , nor do we intend to reward them for actions they have already committed to taking and then reneged on . The path is open to them , and it is up to them to follow it . Unless and until they do , they will face international isolation and the unrelenting pressure of global sanctions . '' North Korea , however , says the six-party talks with the United States , South Korea , Russia , China and Japan are dead and it 's not going back . The country has the right to a nuclear program , it says , since it must defend itself against possible attack from the United States . With strong words on both sides , the standoff seems intractable . Clinton maintains the door still is open to the North , but only if Pyonyang does what it already has committed to : resume talks and dismantle its nuclear program -- completely , irreversibly and verifiably . `` We have made it very clear to the North Koreans that if they will agree to irreversible denuclearization the United States , as well as our partners , will move forward on a package of incentives and opportunities , including normalizing relations that will give the people of North Korea a better future , '' she said . But a North Korean official , quoted by South Korean news agency Yonhap , calls the package of incentives `` nonsense . '' `` The U.S. is telling us to take off all of our clothes , '' he 's quoted as saying . `` The most important thing for us is sovereignty . Sovereignty , security , namely life , should be guaranteed . How can we barter life with money ? ''
`` Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl , '' official reportedly says of Clinton . U.S. officials have likened North Korea 's provocative actions to children acting out . North Korea 's nuclear test in May strengthened U.S. call for sanctions . North Korea remains defiant , showing no signs of abandoning nuclear program .