The rebuke⁶ came in response to a recently published diatribe⁷（诽谤） by North Korea calling Obama a "clown," a "dirty fellow" and somebody who "does not even have the basic appearances of a human being."

 

Another part of the tirade⁸（激烈的长篇演说） declared, "It would be perfect for Obama to live with a group of monkeys in the world's largest African natural zoo and lick the breadcrumbs（面包碎屑） thrown by spectators."

 

The White House -- which often ignores the rhetorical（修辞的，夸张的） excesses of the North Korean regime -- suggested that the new comments from the Korean Central News Agency were especially repugnant.

 

"While the North Korean Government-controlled media are distinguished⁹ by their histrionics, these comments are particularly ugly and disrespectful," Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said in a statement.

 

Propriety¹⁰（礼节，得体） has never been a part of North Korean rhetoric, but rarely has Pyongyang so ferociously¹¹（残忍地） -- and personally -- attacked a US leader, in this case pulling language right out of the American 1850s. The attack seems unabashed, except for one thing: Unlike most articles published by the North's state-run news agency, this one wasn't translated into English.

 

"He is a crossbreed with unclear blood," the North says.

 

And later: Obama "still has the figure of a monkey while the human race has evolved through millions of years."

 

The diatribe, published May 2, almost escaped foreign attention. But Joshua Stanton, who blogs regularly about the North's viciousness and rights violations¹², uncovered the Korean-only piece, as well as a separate, milder article that was translated into English and in which Obama was called a "wicked black monkey."

 

The Korean-only piece (headlined "Divine retribution for the juvenile¹³ delinquent¹⁴ Obama!") featured four lengthy passages, each attributed to a regular citizen. In the North, quotations¹⁵ of citizens are state-sanctioned and often spoon-fed by the government's propaganda department, analysts¹⁶ say.

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