US-North Korea war of words over nuclear weapons
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A war of words on Twitter sends mixed messages as President Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un feud with threats of nuclear weapons.
The public exchange now has both countries talking strategy and making moves.
On Tuesday, the U.S. announced additional sanctions on North Korea, targeting eight of the country's banks and 26 people linked to North Korea's finance network. This after President Trump took to Twitter calling on China to quote "end this nonsense once and for all."
Now China is also making moves.
"I applaud China's latest action to restrict its trade with North Korea," Trump said. "And in particular, I applaud China for breaking off all banking relationships with North Korea-- something that people would have thought unthinkable even two months ago."
From Twitter to the real world and back, the back-and-forth between the U.S. and North Korea is now on all platforms.
On Twitter, President Trump calling Kim Jong-Un a "madman" who "will be tested like never before" as the country continues its provocative actions, touting nuclear missiles.
Kim Jong-Un fired back, insulting President Trump as a "mentally deranged U.S. dotard" and issued a troubling warning that North Korea might test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.
Another tweet calling the North Korea leader "rocketman,” echoing the President's words at the UN.
The president's September 23 tweet saying North Korea "won't be around much longer,” drew criticism on Twitter. Many followers called on the social media site to take down the post saying it violates Twitter’s rules about physical threats.
North Korea’s administration announcing it interprets these words as a declaration of war. The White House insisted the U.S. was not declaring war with North Korea.
In a six-part statement, Twitter said the President hasn't violated the forum's policy and the company is “committed to transparency and keeping people informed about what's happening in the world.”
During this month, North Korea has openly disregarded the international community with a September 3 nuclear weapons test and a medium-range ballistic missile test on September 15 that arced over Japan.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. is planning to resolve this issue diplomatically. Tillerson will travel to Beijing on Thursday.
