North Korea Declared Right To Shoot US Planes, Said Trump Declared War

North Korea said that President Donald Trump has declared war on their country through his tweets and that North Korea has the right to shoot down U.S. warplanes even if they aren’t in their airspace.

“Trump claimed that our leadership wouldn't be around much longer and declared a war on our country,” said North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho Monday in New York through translators.

“Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make all self-defensive countermeasures, including the right to shoot down the United States strategic bombers at any time even when they are not yet inside the aerospace border of our country,” said Ri.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refuted the claim that Trump had declared war on North Korea.

“Frankly, the suggestion of that is absurd,” said Sanders at a press briefing Monday.

Trump unleashed the offending tweet Saturday, among a flurry of tweets about the NFL.

“Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!” Trump posted on Twitter.

The threats about shooting down warplanes came after the U.S. deployed bombers escorted by fighters off the coast of North Korea Saturday. It was the farthest north U.S. fighters have flown past the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea this century. The move was a show of force in a tense year for the U.S. and North Korea.

North Korea has long used blustery and bellicose language in a tense relationship with the U.S.

Since taking office, Trump has lobbed back with similar language.

The latest war of words surrounds Trump’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly. Trump called North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, “Rocket Man,” and threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea. In an unusual move, Kim responded directly calling Trump what North Korea translated to “a dotard.” A dotard is an old person who is weak and senile.

North Korea has shot down U.S. planes before. In 1994, an army helicopter accidentally wandered several miles north of the demilitarized zone and was shot down, killing one pilot. In 1969, North Korea shot down a spy plane over the Sea of Japan. The plane was conducting reconnaissance of North Korea and 31 U.S. servicemembers were killed.

The U.S. also conducted a live ammunition bombing exercise in South Korea near the border this month.

North Korea has been aggressively advancing their missile and nuclear weapons capabilities this year and advertising it through weapons tests. In September, they tested their sixth and largest nuclear bomb to date and claimed it was a thermonuclear hydrogen bomb, an extremely powerful nuclear weapon. North Korea tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July, with the theoretical range of hitting the continental U.S.