North Korea declares itself a "full-fledged nuclear power"

In an open letter addressed to parliaments in a few countries, North Korea has declared itself a "full-fledged nuclear power" and accuses US President Donald Trump of "trying to drive the world into a horrible nuclear disaster."

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop whose country also recieved the letter called the message "unprecedented," noting that North Korea usually chooses different means to communicate.

According to CNN, the document, dated September 28, appears to have been distributed about a week after Trump's address to the United Nations General Assembly, when he said "the United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."

In the letter, North Korea condemned that statement as tantamount to a declaration of war, something North Korean officials said shortly after the speech. The United States denied that Trump had declared war on North Korea, which is also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The letter said: "If Trump thinks that he would bring the DPRK, a nuclear power, to its knees through nuclear war threat, it will be a big miscalculation and an expression of ignorance."

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the letter "basically a rant about how bad Donald Trump is" during an interview with 3AW Mornings with Neil Mitchell.
"It's North Korea that is threatening to fire nuclear missiles at Japan and South Korea and the United States. It's North Korea that is threatening the stability of the world," Turnbull said.

See a copy of the letter below...