Rhetoric Between Clinton, North Korea Descends to Name-Calling

"Funny Lady" Takes on "Unruly Teenagers"

In a sign that the rhetoric between the US and North Korea is continuing to get more absurd and disconnected from the actual issues of debate, North Korea has fired back at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who earlier in the week likened the reclusive nation to “unruly teenagers” who act out to get attention. Clinton also insisted that the nation, which tested a nuclear weapon earlier this year, “don’t pose a threat to us.”

Today North Korea’s foreign ministry condemned those comments, saying they were “vulgar remarks unbecoming for her position.” Then, they engaged in some name calling of their own.

A foreign ministry spokesman labeled her a “funny lady,” adding “sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping.” An official statement also said “her words suggest that she is by no means intelligent” and insisted that North Korea would protect itself from the US.

The US has been trying to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, but a series of US-backed sanctions led North Korea to abandon the previous disarmament deal. North Korea has dismissed the latest offer as “nonsense.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.