Kim Jong Un, the child, and the king, in question, is describing Secretary of State John Kerry as a wolf with a “hideous lantern jaw.”

He’s also termed President Barack Obama a monkey and Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye a prostitute.

The AP thinks these are “crude insults,” and so they are, but it’s also important to keep in mind that these are, at bottom, the childish name-callings of a poorly raised adolescent. In the end, while any proper raising requires discipline, and Kim should be held to account for his misbehavior, the boy is more to be pitied for his condition than condemned for his behavior.

That he has an unstable finger on crude nuclear weapons also is a concern, the way any child playing with a gun is, but that’s a separate question.