Wacked-out North Korea has had another diplomatic hissy fit, this time aimed at the unflappable Donald Rumsfeld. He must've touched a nerve.
North Korea called US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld a "psychopath" and a "stupid man" yesterday, denouncing him for saying that one day freedom would come to the isolated Communist state.Posted by Alan at September 27, 2003 07:11 PMSpeaking before a group of US and South Korean businessmen last week, Rumsfeld predicted freedom would eventually "light up that oppressed land with hope and with promise", casting aside the dictatorship that has ruled the North for more than half a century.
North Korea, whose media regularly churn out anti-American denunciations, is especially thin-skinned when outsiders attack its political leadership.
KCNA, North Korea's official news agency, said today that Rumsfeld's "unsavoury remarks intended to tarnish the image of the dignified DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] and destroy its steel-strong political system".
"His remarks only go to prove that he is just an old man, politically illiterate," it said. "His outbursts ... cannot be construed otherwise than a desperate shrill cry of a psychopath on his death bed." KCNA accused Rumsfeld and other "neo-conservatives" in the United States of "wantonly harassing peace and security in different parts of the world and igniting wars".
"He is cursed and hated worldwide for this," KCNA said. "Rumsfeld, whose political faith is to establish the US style world order by strength, is known to be a typical stupid man," it said. "He is, therefore, not a guy who the DPRK can deal with."
It also called Rumsfeld "a dangerous international dictator".
via the Sydney Morning Herald