North Korea has threatened to redeploy its arsenal of formidable insults against Donald Trump, referring to him once more as a “dotard” if he continues to use nicknames like “Rocket Man” for Kim Jong-un.

The threat, issued by the first deputy foreign minister, Choe Son-hui, has a serious undertone. The last time the two leaders were exchanging epithets, their countries were on the brink of conflict, and North Korea was conducting nuclear and long-range missile tests.

At the height of the diplomatic thaw, Trump had claimed he and Kim “fell in love”.

During his visit to the UK for a Nato leaders meeting however, Trump acknowledged that the North Korean had continued to test short- and medium-range missiles, and revived a nickname he had not used since the summitry began.

He observed Kim “likes sending rockets up, doesn’t he?” adding that: “That’s why I call him Rocket Man.”

In her response, Choe said Trump’s remarks “prompted the waves of hatred of our people against the US” because they had demonstrated “no courtesy when referring to the supreme leadership of dignity” of North Korea.

The threat to deploy suggests that Pyongyang is well aware that Trump is thin-skinned and takes personal insults very seriously.

“If any language and expressions stoking the atmosphere of confrontation are used once again on purpose at a crucial moment as now, that must really be diagnosed as the relapse of the dotage of a dotard,” Choe said.

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