North Korea condemns Trump’s Gaza takeover proposal as ‘ludicrous’

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By Hyunsu Yim

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean state media on Wednesday denounced U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza and relocate Palestinians as ludicrous and accused Washington of extortion.

The slim hopes of Palestinians for safety and peace are being crushed by the proposal, a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, without directly naming Trump.

“The world is now boiling like a porridge pot over the U.S.’ bombshell declaration,” KCNA said.

The commentary is aimed at Trump’s shock announcement that the U.S. intends to remove Gaza residents and transform the war-ravaged territory into what the president billed as a “Riviera of the Middle East”.

The KCNA commentary also criticised the Trump administration over its calls to take over the Panama Canal and Greenland and its decision to change the name of the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America”.

“The U.S. should wake up from its anachronistic delusion and immediately stop violating the dignity and sovereignty of other countries and peoples,” the KCNA report said, while calling the U.S. an “extortionist”.

Trump held unprecedented summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his first term and has touted their personal rapport.

The U.S. president recently said he would reach out to Kim again, though so far Pyongyang’s state media has barely commented on Trump’s second term while continuing to lash out at what it views as the grave security threat posed by Washington and its allies.

North Korea, which often argues against Western views on international issues, has been outspoken about the situation in Gaza, blaming Israel for the bloodshed and calling the United States an “accomplice.”

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Ed Davies and Michael Perry)