This archive report was first published on 15 November 2019.
North Korea's official news agency, KCNA, has unleashed a scathing verbal attack on US presidential candidate Joe Biden, calling him a 'rabid dog' that 'must be beaten to death'. The outburst, made late on Thursday, is the latest in a long line of personal insults exchanged between Pyongyang and Washington.
The KCNA statement, which was published on November 15, 2019, is a stark reminder of the vitriol that often characterizes North Korea's rhetoric. 'Biden had the temerity to dare slander the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK,' the agency said, referring to the country by its official name.
But it was the agency's use of the phrase 'rabid dog' that really caught the attention. 'Rabid dogs like Biden can hurt lots of people if they are allowed to run about,' KCNA said. 'They must be beaten to death with a stick.'
It's not clear what specifically provoked Pyongyang's ire, but Biden's campaign had released an ad earlier in the week condemning Trump's foreign policy, saying that 'dictators and tyrants are praised, our allies pushed aside'. The ad featured a picture of Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shaking hands at their Singapore summit last year.
North Korea has a long history of using personal insults to attack its enemies, and Biden has been a target of their ire before. In May, the agency called him an 'imbecile' and a 'fool of low IQ' after he called Kim a 'dictator' and 'tyrant'.
But the latest outburst is notable for its ferocity, with KCNA even suggesting that Biden is in the final stages of dementia. 'Biden had shown a sign of the final stage of dementia,' the agency said. 'It seems time has come for him to depart his life.'
It's not the first time that North Korea has used such language to attack a US presidential candidate. In 2017, the agency branded Trump a 'mentally deranged US dotard' and said that he would be 'tamed with fire'.
