A build-up of diplomatic tensions has overflowed at a United Nations forum on disarmament in Geneva as North Korea and the United States traded verbal blows.
North Korea's representative, Ju Yong-chol, has lashed out at what he calls preposterous stories fabricated by the United States, Japan and South Korea about its nuclear ambitions.
"It can only be seen as a desperate attempt of these countries to exaggerate (the) DPRK's self-defence measures as a threat to global peace so that they can earn international support in putting more pressure upon the DPRK. Their historical behaviour abusing this august chamber for their ill-minded intention and propaganda reminds me of the saying which goes, 'A drowning man will catch at a straw.'"
Mr Ju went on to accuse the United States of openly disclosing its evil intention to obliterate his country's sovereignty.
"(The) US is wholly responsible for the escalation of the current tension on the Korean Peninsula. (The) US and its followers should bear in mind that any threat or pressure will not threaten the DPRK or block its path towards strengthening nuclear deterrence to protect its sovereignty against the US's hostile policy and nuclear threat."
It was at that point the US ambassador to the forum, Robert Wood, stepped up to intervene.
"Thank you, Mr President. I apologise for taking the floor, but I think you could expect me to take the floor after listening to that diatribe from the representative from the Pyongyang regime. We've heard this regime rejects UN Security Council resolutions -- you know, they are international law -- (that) it's somehow a political tool of the United States. I mean, it's just preposterous. This is clearly not a regime that's interested in having dialogue. It's interested in making threats. And it's interested in undertaking provocative actions that threaten peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula."
While the diplomats were trading barbs in Geneva, US president Donald Trump was tweeting back in the United States.
He tweeted, "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!"
It was unclear exactly what he meant by extortion, and it was left to Ambassador Wood to explain afterwards.
"Well, first of all, I haven't seen the tweet, I've been inside. But I know that President Trump has been frustrated for many years with how North Korea policy has evolved, and that's why he's put in place this new mechanism that we are now trying to put together, which is to further isolate North Korea. And we're undertaking a diplomatic, economic and political campaign in trying to do so."
For its part, Britain says it believes it is time for further economic constraints on North Korea.
Britain's UN representative, Matthew Rycroft, says sanctions imposed so far have done little to change what he calls North Korea's provocative course of action.
"One other thing we could look at is building on the cap on foreign labourers in Resolution 2371 to see whether we could do more to prevent the flow of money coming into the DPRK from North Korean nationals who are working abroad."
Meanwhile, in Australia, former prime minister John Howard has warned of the danger North Korea presents for Australia.
Speaking at the 20th-anniversary gala of the Asia Society in Sydney, Mr Howard said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's nuclear ambitions are concerning.
He has urged the United States and China to work together to solve the North Korean problem.
"And, certainly, against the backdrop of the cloud called North Korea hanging over us at the moment, there is no bilateral relationship in the world that is more important than that between the United States and the People's Republic of China."
Both China and Russia are treading a cautious diplomatic line.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has urged the United States to avoid any military actions on the Korean Peninsula fraught with what he calls "unpredictable consequences."
And the Russian foreign ministry says Mr Lavrov has told US secretary of state Rex Tillerson in a telephone conversation any rise in sanctions pressure would be counterproductive.
