THE missile tests by North Korea must be stopped, President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday as he expressed concern that Pyongyang’s actions could escalate the tensions in the region.
“That Kim Jong-un. You know, if that guy… I do not think that he is ready but he is playing with dangerous toys,” Duterte said in his speech during the 113th anniversary of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Using characteristically crude language, Duterte teed off against Kim ahead of a regional security meeting in Manila where the hermit state’s ballistic missile tests will be a hot agenda item.
“He is playing with dangerous toys and this crazy man, do not be fooled by his face, that chubby face that looks nice,” Duterte, 72, said of Kim in a nationally televised speech.
“That son-of-a-whore maniac, if he makes a mistake then the Far East will become an arid land. It must be stopped, this nuclear war, because [if] a limited confrontation blows up here, I tell you the fallout, the soil, the resources. I don’t know what will happen to us. We won’t be able to plant anything productive.”
Meanwhile, the Metro Manila Development Authority said Roxas Boulevard will be closed on Aug. 8 for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The Asean will be discussing North Korea during its meeting here.
The MMDA said Roxas Boulevard from P. Burgos to Buendia will be closed from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Motorists should take the following alternate routes: Roxas Boulevard, P. Burgos, Finance Road, Taft Avenue, Buendia, Roxas Boulevard to Macapagal to Diokno to destination.
Only Asean delegates and guests may pass through the Philippine International Convention Center and Sofitel from Aug. 2 to 8.
The MMDA said it will likewise impose a truck ban along Roxas Boulevard from Buendia Avenue to P. Burgos due to the Asean Ministers Meeting on Aug. 8.
The affected trucks may turn right to Edsa and turn left to South Superhighway to Port Area.
Duterte said North Korea’s ongoing missile tests could turn the Far East into an arid land if something went wrong.
Over the weekend, North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that appeared to have the range to hit the United States, prompting a fresh round of condemnation from the United States, China, Japan and South Korea.
That led Kim to boast he could strike any target in the United States.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will also be in Manila for the security forum, which is hosted by the 10-member Asean.
The ministers will express “grave concern” over North Korea’s nuclear missile test, according to a draft copy of the chairman’s statement obtained by AFP and scheduled to be released on Tuesday next week at the end of the Asean Regional Forum. With AFP