Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the government of North Korea have engaged in a war of words this week that teeters on the edge of farce. On Monday, via Reuters, Clinton equated the DPRK regime to attention-starved children, saying, "And maybe it's the mother in me or the experience that I've had with small children and unruly teenagers and people who are demanding attention -- don't give it to them, they don't deserve it, they are acting out."
Now, on Thursday, the New York Times reports that North Korea has returned fire with almost the exact same insult: Secretary of State Clinton is an impolite "schoolgirl". The statement reads: "We cannot but regard Mrs. Clinton as a funny lady as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community. Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping."
The North Korean foreign minister also added that Clinton is "by no means intelligent," according to the Washington Post, who also reports on a rather ridiculous standoff between Clinton and North Korean officals at the ASEAN meeting:
North Korean officials are also attending the conference hosted by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on this resort island. In a somewhat comical scene, North Korean officials, guarded by a half-dozen grim-looking security guards, showed up at a news conference venue that had been set up for Clinton, who as usual was running late. Though the North Koreans had booked the space, they stalked away to a nearby hallway to meet with reporters and denounce the United States.
At that same news conference, Clinton slammed North Korea for it's lack of allies and relayed to the rest of the ASEAN countries the danger of a radical, nuclearized regime in their backyard. From Reuters:
"Our partners in the region understand that a nuclear North Korea has far-reaching consequences for the security future of northeast Asia ... This would serve no nation's interests," she said on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on the Thai resort island of Phuket.
"There is no place to go for North Korea, they have no friends left that will protect them from the international community's efforts to move toward denuclearization."