Is Trump Like Obama? North Korea Compares President With His Predecessor

North Korea’s official state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) compared President Donald Trump with his predecessor former President Barack Obama on Monday, the Associated Press reported. The comparison was based on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent visit to Asia.

“Tillerson admitted the failure of the U.S. efforts to denuclearize the DPRK for 20 years and end of Obama’s policy of ‘strategic patience’ during his recent tour. ... Now Tillerson is repeating what Obama touted ... until he left the White House,” KCNA said in the dispatch, according to the AP, citing an anonymous foreign ministry official.

Read: McCain calls Kim Jong Un a 'Crazy, Fat, Kid'

The latest developments come amid heightened tensions in the region as Kim Jong Un's regime has been ramping up its nuclear program and testing ballistic missiles. The country’s aggressive posturing comes despite being banned by the United Nations from carrying out any missile or nuclear tests.

Although, during his Seoul visit, the former Exxon Mobil chief Tillerson did not rule out any options, including military intervention or even a pre-emptive strike, insisting that “everything was on the table,” Reuters reported that the Trump administration is considering imposing fresh sanctions. The sanctions are being reportedly drafted by National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and may reach the president possibly by early April. On Saturday, Trump said the North Korean leader was "acting very, very badly," after a meeting discussing North Korea with McMaster.

Reacting to the news about a fresh wave of sanctions, Choe Myong Nam, deputy ambassador at the North Korean mission to the United Nations in Geneva, told Reuters that the country remains unfazed by the threats of sanctions. He added that they would continue their defiance in developing a "pre-emptive first strike capability" and an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM).

"I think this is stemming from the visit by the Secretary of State (Rex Tillerson) to Japan, South Korea and China...We of course are not afraid of any act like that…Even prohibition of the international transactions system, the global financial system, this kind of thing is part of their system that will not frighten us or make any difference," Choe said, adding that the existing sanctions were "heinous and inhumane."