North Korea Has Power to Deter US Nuclear Threat
Local Editor
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong warned that his country had the power to deter an "ever-increasing nuclear threat" by the United States with a pre-emptive strike if necessary.
"The DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] cannot but bolster its nuclear deterrent capability to cope with the ever-increasing nuclear threat of the US. Now the DPRK has the power of deterring the US and conducting a pre-emptive strike as well, if necessary," Ri told the Geneva forum.
His remarks were consistent with Pyongyang's stance on the annual US-South Korean military exercises, which the North denounced as a preparation for war, and with the verbal threats that the isolationist government frequently makes.
Meanwhile, North Korea fired two short-range missiles off its eastern coast that South Korean officials considered as a defiant response to the military exercises that drew a swift protest from Japan.
According to South Korea's Defense Ministry, the missiles landed in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and southern Japan after traveling for about 490 km.
Further to the point, Ri did not refer to the firing, but stated the joint military drills were "unprecedentedly provocative in nature and have an especially high possibility of sparking off a war."
He added that the Korean Peninsula was a "touch-and-go nuclear powder-keg."
Striking a conciliatory note, he noted that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had underscored in his New Year's address that the North and South should achieve great national unity.
"The DPRK will not spare its sincere efforts to bring about great change in inter-Korean relations this year," Ri declared.
However, there was no immediate reaction from the US or South Korean delegations to the 65-member state UN forum.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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