WAR OF WORDS

Clinton: Nukes Isolate North Korea

Says country has "no friends" thanks to weapons.

Seeking to dispel accusations that its government behaves like a petulant child, North Korean officials are trading schoolyard insults this week with the U.S.: On Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Thailand that North Korea has "no friends left that will protect them from the international community's efforts to move toward denuclearization." In response, North Korea's foreign-ministry spokesman went personal, telling a state news agency that Clinton's comment "suggests she is by no means intelligent." The state news report even went after her looks: "Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping."