North Korea: Our Diplomats 'Mugged' by US Officials

North Korea, the US, and a demand for an explanation. In this case, the issue at hand isn't Otto Warmbier but what North Korea is framing as a "mugging" of its diplomats by US officials in New York. Those diplomats were in the process of departing via JFK International Airport Friday following a UN conference when North Korea alleges a package its diplomats were transporting was seized by more than 20 Department of Homeland Security and police personnel, reports the New York Times. No word on what was in the package.

A Foreign Ministry rep is quoted by the Korean Central News Agency as saying the North Koreans "vigorously resisted" and that the package was taken from them "using physical violence." That rep wants the US to offer up an explanation and an "I'm sorry," and wants the world at large "to seriously reconsider whether or not New York, where such an outrageous mugging is rampant, is fit to serve as the venue for international meetings," Reuters reports. The most biting words: "This clearly shows that the US is a felonious and lawless gangster state." (More North Korea stories.)