Ri Yong Ho claimed North Korea has the right to “shoot down the United States’ strategic bombers” even if they are not in the country’s airspace.
During a press conference at the UN Millennium Plaza hotel in New York, he 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 have every right to make all self-defensive counter measures, 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.”
The horrifying outburst comes after months of public name-calling between Kim and Donald Trump.
Last week, the US President described the North Korean dictator as a “rocket man on a suicide mission”, before Kim personally responded to the insult, calling Mr Trump a “mentally deranged US dotard”.
Will the US and North Korea go to war?
Latina Adams, of the US State Department, has assured worried Americans that Mr Trump has not declared war on North Korea.
She said: “We continue to seek a peaceful denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
“No nation has the right to fire on other nations’ aircraft or ships in international airspace or waters.”
The White House said the North Korean foreign minister’s statement that the US has declared war on Pyongyang is “absurd.”
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Ri Yong Ho said the North Korea could shoot down US planes
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said: “We’ve not declared war on North Korea. Frankly, the suggestion of that is absurd.”
The Pentagon has dismissed Ri’s remarks and defended the US’s right to fly planes off the North Korean coast.
It was the US who first declared war on our country
Pentagon spokesman Rob Manning said: “That operation was conducted in international airspace over international waters so we have the right to fly, sail and operate where legally permissible around the globe.”
The US flew a fleet of B-1B Lancer bombers and F-15C fighter jets near North Korea over the weekend.
US officials described the manoeuvre as a “clear message” to Kim.
As World War 3 fears continue to mount, the US and South Korea are taking part in a series of joint drills close to Korea’s demilitarised zone.
North Korea stages anti-US rally in battle with Donald Trump
Mon, September 25, 2017
Tens of thousands of Pyongyang residents were gathered in the capital’s Kim Il-Sung Square to laud leader Kim Jong-Un’s denunciation of US President Donald Trump.
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Kim Jong-un delivering a speech in Pyongyang
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Donald Trump called Kim a ‘rocket man’ last week
Could North Korea bomb the US?
North Korea have tested a number of rockets that western experts fear could reach huge swathes of the US mainland.
In July, Pyongyang launched a missile that flew for 45 minutes, reaching an altitude of 2,300 mile and a distance of 621 miles.
However, it is thought that the rocket could reach cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, if fired on a flatter trajectory, allowing it to make the 5,700 mile journey.
Hawaii became the first US state to begin preparations for nuclear war, after North Korea threatened to launch four missiles near Guam last month.
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North Korea has accused the United States of declaring war
Hawaiian officials are encouraging people on the island to plan for a strike in the same way they would plan for a natural disaster.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Hawaii state representative Gene Ward said: “Now it’s time to take it seriously. Not to be an alarmist, but to be informing people”
Vern Miyagi, of Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency, predicted that Hawaii’s residents will only have 15 minutes to seek shelter once North Korea launch a rocket.
He said: “Pacific Command would take about five minutes to characterise a launch, where the missile is going, which means the population would have about 15 minutes to take shelter.
“It’s not much time at all. But it is enough time to give yourself a chance to survive.”