New York — US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the US will be forced to “totally destroy” North Korea unless Pyongyang backs down from its nuclear challenge, mocking North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a “rocket man” on a suicide mission. Loud murmurs filled the green-marbled UN General Assembly hall when Trump issued his sternest warning yet to North Korea, whose ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests have rattled the globe. Unless North Korea backs down, he said, “we will have no choice than to totally destroy North Korea”. Trump said: “Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime.” North Korea’s mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks. A junior North Korean diplomat remained in the delegation’s front-row seat for Trump’s speech, the North Korean UN mission said. In his first appearance at the annual gathering of world leaders, the US president used a 41-minute speech to take aim also at Iran’s nucl...
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