North Korea called Joe Biden a 'fool of low IQ' who is 'seized by ambition for power' after he labeled Kim Jong Un a 'tyrant'

Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters; Matt Rourke/AP

A composite image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok, Russia, in April 2019, and former US Vice President Joe Biden in Philadelphia in May 2019.

• Former Vice President Joe Biden has called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a "tyrant" and "dictator" in recent campaign rallies.
• North Korea's state-run Pyongyang Times responded on Wednesday by calling Biden, who is running for president in 2020, a "low IQ individual" who is "seized by ambition for power."
• "It is not worth pinning hope on" Biden to win the presidency, the newspaper added.
• The insult appears to follow in the footsteps of President Donald Trump, who called Biden "another low IQ individual" earlier this year.
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North Korea's state media has slammed Joe Biden as a "low IQ individual" who is "seized by ambition for power," days after the former US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate slammed the Asian country's leader, Kim Jong Un, as a "tyrant" and "dictator."

In a Wednesday editorial, titled "Biden urged to watch his mouth," the Pyongyang Times wrote: "Former US Vice President Biden has gone reckless and senseless, seized by ambition for power."

"It is not worth pinning hope on" Biden to win the presidency, the editorial continued, adding that he is "backed by the jeer that he is a fool of low IQ."

"What he uttered is just sophism of an imbecile bereft of elementary quality as a human being, let alone a politician."

Read more: Joe Biden is running for president in 2020. Here's everything we know about the candidate and how he stacks up against the competition.

Reuters

Biden at a campaign really in Philadelphia in May 2019, where he called Kim a "tyrant."

The North Korean editorial comes after Biden repeatedly slammed the North Korean leader - who has dramatically improved relations with the US under President Donald Trump's administration - in recent campaign rallies.

"Look at what this president's done. He's embraced every autocrat and dictator in the world," Biden told a crowd in Nashua, New Hampshire last Tuesday.

"He looks at Kim Jong Un, and he says: 'We exchange love letters.' He's the same guy that [had] his brother killed at an airport and had his uncle's brains blown out across the desk. Come on."

Getty

Kim and Trump during their first meeting in Singapore last year. The two men appeared to enjoy warm relations.

Biden was referring to Trump's claim at a September 2018 rally that he and Kim "fell in love," and that the North Korean leader wrote him "beautiful" and "great letters."

Kim is also believed to have orchestrated the assassination of his half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, who died after two women smeared lethal VX nerve agent on his face at a Malaysian airport in February 2017.

Read more: The borderline-unbelievable assassination of Kim Jong Nam could be a mystery forever after the trial of his alleged killers finishes with no testimony from either defendant

Kim Jong Un also had his uncle Jang Song Thaek, who was accused of treason, executed in 2013, though the location of the killing is not clear.

FUJITV/via Reuters TV

A still image from surveillance footage appears to show a man purported to be Kim Jong Nam (circled) talking to airport staff after a woman smeared liquid on his face in February 2017. He died from exposure to the lethal nerve agent VX shortly after.

Biden also asked supporters at a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Saturday: "Are we a nation that embraces dictators and tyrants like Putin and Kim Jong Un? We don't, but Trump does."

The Democratic candidate has positioned much of his campaign against Trump. He announced his candidacy last month with a video that singled out Trump and his response to the violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

Biden is currently the Democratic candidate with the highest odds of winning the party nomination. More than half of Democrats believe he can win against Trump, according to INSIDER polling.

Read more: POWER RANKING: Here's who has the best chance of becoming the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee

MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Trump with former President Barack Obama and Biden after being sworn in as president at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, in January 2017.

Cues from Trump?

North Korea's Wednesday insult appeared to follow in the foosteps of Trump and his aides.

Trump called Biden "another low IQ individual" in March in response to reports that the former vice president was mulling a presidential run. Shortly after Biden announced his candidacy, Trump tweeted: "Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe."

Read more: Joe Biden has a new nickname for Trump after the president called him 'Sleepy Joe'

In a HuffPost interview last June, Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, described Biden as a "moron" and "a mentally deficient idiot."

He clarified his comments the next day, telling CNN that he "didn't mean" to call Biden mentally deficient, saying instead: "I meant he's dumb."