North Korea calls Joe Biden an "imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being"
North Korea has labeled former Vice President Joe Biden "an imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being" and a "fool of low IQ," after the U.S. presidential hopeful called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a tyrant.
Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, KCNA, said Wednesday that Biden "reeled off rhetoric slandering" the country's supreme leadership and committed an "intolerable and serious politically-motivated provocation" against the country.
Biden, during a campaign launch in Philadelphia on Saturday, accused President Donald Trump of cozying up to "dictators and tyrants" like Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"What he uttered is just sophism of an imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being, let alone a politician," KCNA said.
KCNA's piece, labeled a commentary, said Biden had "gone reckless and senseless, seized by ambition for power." It went on to mention apparent Biden gaffes, such as once appearing to fall asleep during a speech by President Barack Obama.
"It is by no means accidental that here is nonstop comment over his bid for candidacy that he is not worth pinning hope on, backed by the jeer that he is a fool of low IQ," KCNA said. It mocked Biden's belief that he was "the most popular presidential candidate."
''This is enough to make a cat laugh," the report said.
There was no immediate reaction from the Biden camp.
North Korea has often unleashed crude insults against U.S. and South Korean politicians to criticize what it sees as slanderous remarks toward its leadership or hostile diplomatic and military policies against Pyongyang. The insults have included racist and sexist diatribes, including when the North called Obama "a monkey" and former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, the country's first female leader, a prostitute.
In 2017, Kim called Mr. Trump a "mentally deranged U.S. dotard" after he said the U.S. would "totally destroy North Korea" if forced to defend itself or its allies.
North Korea's description of Mr. Trump dramatically improved after Kim initiated diplomacy with Washington and Seoul in 2018 while attempting to leverage his nuclear arsenal for economic and security benefits. However, the nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang stalled in February when a summit between Kim and Mr. Trump collapsed over mismatched demands in sanctions relief and disarmament.
Amid the deadlocked diplomacy, South Korea's military said earlier this month that North Korea fired projectiles from the western part of the country into the sea -- the second North Korea launch over a five-day period. In the latest launch, on the U.S. tracked three short-range ballistic missiles, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported.