North Korea calls Trump's tweets a declaration of war threatens to shoot down US bombers

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the defence detachment on Jangjae Islet and the Hero Defence Detachment on Mu Islet located in the southernmost part of the waters off the southwest front, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 5, 2017.KCNA/ via REUTERS

North Korea's foreign minister called President Donald Trump's recent tweets "at last declared war," and said they would try to shoot down US strategic bombers even if they're not in North Korea's airspace, according to Reuters' Michelle Nichols.

North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho spoke with reporters in New York, saying that Trump's tweets — specifically one saying Ri Yong Ho, the foreign minister, and Kim Jong Un, the country's leader "won't be around much longer" —constituted a declaration of war.

However, the US and North Korea have technically been at war since June 1950, as the Korean War ended in 1953 with a cease fire rather than a peace treaty. It's unclear what North Korea means by saying Trump declared war anew.

"Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country," Ri said.

The North Korean statement comes after Trump told the UN that if the US is "forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."

Trump said in the same speech that Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, was a "rocket man" who was "on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime."

“If Trump thinks that he would bring North Korea, a nuclear power, to its knees through nuclear war threat, it is a big miscalculation and ignorance,” read North Korea's statement.

Trump and Kim have been locked in a war of words since Trump threatened to respond to further North Korean provocations with "fire and fury" in mid August.

A US Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber drop MK-84 bomb during a training exercise near North Korea's border.South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty

Trump also specifically threatened Ri on Twitter, suggesting he "won't be around much longer" if he continues on a path of escalation with the US.

Additionally, the B-1B bomber recently flown off North Korea's coast by the US Air Force is a supersonic aircraft, and it's unclear if North Korea has any capacity to down such an advanced jet. 

"The DoD is ready to provide military response options for the president." Lt Col. Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, told Business Insider in response to North Korea threatening US Air Force planes and the prospect of renewed war.

“We have the capability to respond to any threat from North Korea," said Logan, adding that it's "standard policy that our forces always maintain the right to self defense."

North Korea has also recently threatened to fire a salvo of missiles at Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, and to fire a nuclear-tipped missile into the Pacific ocean. Both threats have gone unfilled.

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