SEOUL: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slammed on Wednesday President Donald Trump’s “dangerous and short-sighted” war of words with North Korea, saying his Twitter tirades only benefitted Pyongyang’s attention-seeking ruler and hurt Washington’s credibility.

Clinton lost last year’s presidential election to the insurgent Republican despite having decades of experience in politics.

Tension has been running high for months as the White House’s new incumbent and the North’s Kim Jong-Un trade threats of war, with Trump dubbing Kim “Rocket Man” and being called a “dotard” in response.

In recent months Pyongyang has carried out multiple launches of missiles potentially capable of reaching the US mainland, and its sixth nuclear test. But Trump’s tit-for-tat with the young, autocratic ruler of the isolated regime only dents Washington’s credibility and helps Kim bask in global attention he seeks, the former secretary of state told a forum in Seoul.

“I am worried about some of the recent actions from the new administration that seem to raise tensions. Our allies are now expressing concerns about America’s credibility and reliability,” she said.

“Picking up fights with Kim Jong-Un just puts a smile on his face. It’s like picking fights with Nato and the EU which puts a smile on Putin’s face,” she added, referring to the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s escalating verbal threats have sparked concerns of potential conflict on the peninsula, especially after he warned this month that “only one thing will work” on the North, without elaborating further. Such “cavalierly threats to start a war are dangerous and short-sighted”, Clinton said, adding the regime would be “thrilled” to get the “personal attention of the leader of our country”.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2017