She said: “We’ve not declared war on North Korea, and frankly the suggestion of that is absurd.
“It’s never appropriate for a country to shoot down another countries aircraft when it is in international waters.
“Our goal is still the same. We continue to seek the peaceful denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. That’s out focus.”
Her comments come just hours after Ri said: “The whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country.
“Since the United States declared war on our country, we will reserve the right to make counter-measurements, including the right to shoot down the United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country.”
Ri said “the question of who won’t be around much longer will be answered then”.
The Pentagon quickly responded saying if North Korea does not stop provocative actions President Trump will be given options to deal with Pyongyang.
The ongoing war of words come at a time when it is clear that tensions are at an all-time high between the hermit kingdom and US, and that an all-out war could be days away.
Ri’s chilling comments come after US President Trump appeared to threaten regime change, saying if the country’s foreign minister echoed the thoughts of Kim they “won’t be around much longer”.
In another threat, he also tweeted on Friday: “Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn’t mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!”