Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is either "mad" or a "genius" on a US radio show.
Mr Trump was speaking about the US Government's commitment to aid South Korea if the neighbouring Korean countries enter another full-blown war as talks continue.
"You know it’s heating up again," Mr Trump told presenter Mick Murphy. "So, we send our ships".
"I think South Korea’s great. I think it's wonderful. I just order 4,000 television sets for a job that I’m doing, right? And guess what? Between Samsung, and LG, and Sharp, they all come from South Korea."
The presidential candidate questioned why America is not receiving compensation for protecting South Korea from attack.
"They're making a fortune. So, we send our troops, we're getting ready to go in there and defend them. And we get nothing! It's like crazy. We get nothing. Why are we getting nothing? Why aren't they helping us, okay? We help them," he said.
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"And you know, we have this mad guy, I guess he's mad, either he's mad or he's a genius, one or the other, but he's actually more unstable, even than his father, they say. They said the father was a pleasure by comparison to him, in North Korea." North Korea's worst human rights abuses
"How many people can we defend?" Mr Trump asked. "Why are we defending everybody? And these are rich nations. South Korea makes billions and billions. We get nothing. We are like the stupid people that go and defend everybody."
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Mr Trump implied that if he is elected president he will negotiate payment from South Korea: "We should defend them, but you know what? With the right messenger, they’ll pay us a fortune, and everybody will be happy. But it’s very sad to see what happens, frankly."
Donald Trump remains ahead in the polls for the Republican primary.
