FOREIGN POLICY/NATIONAL SECURITY/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR: “North Korea’s foreign minister escalated tensions with the United States on Monday [9-25-17], saying that President Trump’s threatening comments about the country and its leadership were ‘a declaration of war’ and that North Korea had the right to shoot down American warplanes, even if they are not in North Korean air space…
Referring to Mr. Trump’s assertion that the North Korean leadership may not ‘be around much longer,’ Mr. Ri said that the question of ‘who would be around much longer will be answered’ by North Korea…
The foreign minister’s comments, made outside his hotel near the United Nations, added to the invective-laced tensions that have been building with the Trump administration over North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.
While North Korea has reserved the right to take pre-emptive action against the United States and South Korea, Mr. Ri’s threat to shoot down American planes in international airspace was a new element in the standoff.
Political analysts said Trump administration officials should take Mr. Ri’s threats seriously.”
-Rick Gladstone, “North Korea Says It Has the Right to Shoot Down U.S. Warplanes,” The New York Times online, Sept. 25, 2017