Senator John McCain (R-Az.) is currently involved in an ongoing indirect dialogue with the North Korean government after offending the sensibilities of the Dear Leader, Kim Jon-un.

In a television interview earlier this month, McCain called the dictator a “crazy fat kid” who shows no rational thought or behavior. He also said that “we’re not dealing even with someone like Joseph Stalin, who had a certain rationality to his barbarity.”

The North Koreans, without explicitly repeating what Senator McCain had said about Kim Jong-un, used their state sponsored media arm to respond to the comments, as well as Senator Ted Cruz’s efforts to re-establish North Korea as a recognized state sponsor of terrorism.

“What they uttered to dare hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is just a manifestation of their worst hostility toward the DPRK’s ideology and social system and its people and a grave provocation little short of declaration of war against it,” The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a statement.

“The service personnel and people of the DPRK are regarding the dignity of their supreme leadership as their life and soul.”

In what is quite unsurprising, the North Korean news agency went so far as to describe the actions of Ted Cruz and John McCain’s interview as the first steps towards war between the two countries.

“As such guys as John McCain and Ted Cruz made a provocation tantamount to declaration of war against the DPRK, the DPRK will take steps to counter it.”

“They will have to bitterly experience the disastrous consequences to be entailed by their reckless tongue-lashing and then any regret for it will come too late.”

In what could potentially stoke further tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, John McCain made the following tweet in response:

No word yet on how North Korea will respond to this escalation.

Featured image courtesy of Reuters