North Korea on Wednesday compared United States President Donald Trump’s latest rhetoric against the country to a “dog’s bark”, AFP reported.

“There is a saying that marching goes on even when dogs bark,” Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said in New York. “If they are trying to shock us with the sound of a dog’s bark, they are clearly having a dog dream.”

On Tuesday, Trump had said that the United States would have “no choice but to totally destroy North Korea” if it is forced to defend itself or its allies. In his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, the president had said that though the US was ready, willing, and able, such action would, hopefully, not be necessary.

On September 15, North Korea escalated tensions further as it fired a missile that flew over Japan before landing in the Pacific Ocean. The test came a day after Pyongyang threatened to “reduce the United States to ashes and darkness” and “sink Japan into the sea” using nuclear weapons.

This was the second missile North Korea fired over Japan in as many months. On August 30, North Korea had fired a missile over Japan, saying it was a “first step” to counter the military action in the Pacific Ocean to contain the US territory of Guam.