North Korea slams Bolton for ‘stupid’ remarks

SEOUL: A senior North Korean official slammed US National Security Advisor John Bolton on Saturday, accusing him of making “stupid” comments on stalled denuclearisation talks and warning “nothing good” would come of them.

Bolton is the second, top ranking US politician to be criticised by Pyongyang in recent days, after it labelled Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as “reckless” Thursday, demanding his removal from talks over the North’s banned nuclear programme.

Those comments came hours after the isolated state claimed to have tested a new kind of weapon.

Pyongyang and Washington have been at loggerheads since the collapse of a summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump earlier this year.

In an interview with Bloomberg published Wednesday, Bolton urged Pyongyang to give a “real indication” it is willing give up nuclear weapons.

In comments cited by North Korea’s official KCNA news service, Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said Bolton’s remarks may have showed a “lack of understanding about the intentions of the two leaders”.

But, “they all sound uncharming and stupid to me”, she said.

“Nothing good would come to you if such insensitive remarks persist.”

In the Bloomberg interview, Bolton said that for a third Trump-Kim summit to take place, “a real indication from North Korea that they’ve made the strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons”, would be needed.