MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday described North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a "fool" and a "son of a b***h", just days before Manila hosts an international meeting certain to address Pyongyang's long-range missile tests.
Duterte held nothing back in rebuking Kim for "playing with dangerous toys", setting the stage for next week's rare get-together, to be attended by foreign ministers of all the countries involved in the standoff on the Korean peninsula.
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Duterte was born on March 28, 1945 in Maasin, Southern Leyte, Philippines.
(PHILIPPINES-DAVAO/MODEL REUTERS/Renato Lumawag)
Duterte became the mayor of Davao City in 1988, where he earned the nickname “The Punisher.” He served as mayor for 20 years, non-consecutively.
(PHILIPPINES-DAVAO/MODEL REUTERS/Renato Lumawag)
Duterte comes from a family of politicians. His father, Vicente Duterte, was the governor of unified Davao and a member of President Ferdinand Marcos' cabinet. His daughter, Sara Duterte, is currently the mayor of Davao City.
(REUTERS/Erik De Castro)
Rodrigo Duterte was elected the 16th president of the Philippines in May 2016.
(REUTERS/Czar Dancel)
Duterte once compared himself to Adolf Hitler, saying he would kill millions of drug addicts.
(REUTERS/Ezra Acayan)
Duterte has led a violent anti-drug crackdown, and more than 7,000 have reportedly been killed since he has taken office.
(Photo credit should read NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Duterte called President Barack Obama a “son of a wh**e.” He made the comments after Obama brought up concerns about human rights violations in 2016. Duterte later apologized for the comment.
(Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Weeks before being sworn in as president, Duterte fueled an already hostile environment for journalists when he said, "Just because you're a journalist you are not exempted from assassination, if you're a son of a b****."
Duterte cursed Pope Francis over traffic that was generated by his visit.
"We were affected by the traffic," Duterte said. "It took us five hours. I asked why, they said it was closed. I asked who is coming. They answered, the Pope. I wanted to call him: 'Pope, son of a wh**e, go home. Do not visit us again'."
He later apologized.
(PHILIPPINES - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Duterte came under fire in April 2016 after he made a joke about a missionary who was gang raped and murdered during a prison riot in 1989. “But she was so beautiful,” Duterte said. “I thought the mayor should have been first.”
(REUTERS/Harley Palangchao)
A witness testified in Sept. 2016, claiming he was a member of Duterte's alleged "Davao Death Squad," and that the Filipino president gave orders to kill drug dealers, drug users and others who may violate the law.
(Photo credit should read Ezra Acayan / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Congressman Gary Alejano filed an impeachment complaint against Duterte in March 2017, claiming he is guilty of crimes against humanity and murder.
(REUTERS/Erik De Castro TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
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North Korea is determined to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States and officials in Washington said Saturday's test of an intercontinental ballistic missile showed it may be able to reach most of the country.
"This Kim Jong Un, a fool ... he is playing with dangerous toys, that fool," Duterte told tax officials in a speech.
"That chubby face that looks kind. That son of a b***h. If he commits a mistake, the Far East will become an arid land. It must be stopped, this nuclear war.
"A limited confrontation and it blows up here, I will tell you, the fallout can deplete the soil, the resources and I don't know what will happen to us."
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A missile is carried by a military vehicle during a parade to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of a truce in the 1950-1953 Korean War, at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang July 27, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee (NORTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY ANNIVERSARY)
Engineers check the base of Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket sitting on a launch pad at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site, during a guided media tour by North Korean authorities in the northwest of Pyongyang April 8, 2012. REUTERS/Bobby Yip (NORTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY)
A North Korean scientist looks at a monitor showing the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket on a launch pad at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site, at the satellite control centre of the Korean Committee of Space Technology on the outskirts of Pyongyang April 11, 2012. North Korea said on Wednesday it was injecting fuel into a long-range rocket ahead of a launch condemned by its neighbours and the West. The launch is set to take place between Thursday and next Monday and has prompted neighbours such as the Philippines to re-route their air traffic. REUTERS/Bobby Yip (NORTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
A soldier stands guard in front of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket sitting on a launch pad at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site, during a guided media tour by North Korean authorities in the northwest of Pyongyang April 8, 2012. REUTERS/Bobby Yip (NORTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
North Korean soldiers salute in a military vehicle carrying a missile during a parade to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of a truce in the 1950-1953 Korean War, at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang July 27, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee (NORTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY ANNIVERSARY)
Ko Yun-hwa (L), Administrator of Korea Meteorological Administration, points at where seismic waves observed in South Korea came from, during a media briefing at Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul, South Korea, January 6, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A sales assistant watches TV sets broadcasting a news report on North Korea's nuclear test, in Seoul, January 6, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Workers construct a new nuclear reactor in the North Korean village of
Kumho in this file photo taken August 7, 2002. The United States urged
North Korea December 21, 2002 not to restart a nuclear reactor
suspected of being used to make weapons-grade plutonium. The
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that North Korea had
disabled surveillance devices the agency had placed at the
five-megawatt Nyongbyong reactor. REUTERS/Lee Jae-won/File Photo
LJW/RCS/AA
A passenger walks past a television report on North Korea's nuclear test at a railway station in Seoul February 12, 2013. North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Tuesday, South Korea's defence ministry said, after seismic activity measuring 4.9 magnitude was registered by the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicentre of the seismic activity, which was only one km below the Earth's surface, was close to the North's known nuclear test site. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji (SOUTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
A scientist stands beside the Kwangmyongsong-3 application satellite, to be put onto the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket at the West Sea Satellite Launch Site, during a guided media tour by North Korean authorities in the northwest of Pyongyang April 8, 2012. REUTERS/Bobby Yip (NORTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY)
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This year, Duterte is chairman of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and on Monday his foreign minister will host the ASEAN Regional Forum, which brings together 27 countries that include Australia, China, India, Japan, Russia, North and South Korea and the United States.
It was not the first time Duterte has criticized Kim over his nuclear ambitions. In April he questioned his sanity and urged the United States to show restraint and not be baited by a man who "wants to end the world".
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is due to attend the Manila meeting, on Tuesday said he wanted dialogue with North Korea at some point, stressing it was not the enemy and the United States did not seek to topple the regime.
(Reporting by Martin Petty and Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
