DPRK can counteract US administration: Pyongyang
North Korea says it has the “capacity and measures to counteract the US administration,” which had urged the international community to put further pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear program.
The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday released a statement reading that “the incumbent US administration should realize before they resign from their power that if the US continues to suppress us, we have the capacity and measures to counteract the US administration as well.”
The statement, aired on state broadcaster Korean Central Television (KRT), came two days after US Secretary of State John Kerry stressed the importance to “ramp up international pressure for North Korea to change its behavior.”
On May 18, during a joint news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se in Seoul, Kerry said that North Korea keeps pursuing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, as well as showing “flagrant disregard for international laws.”
The top US diplomat told reporters that Washington continued to offer the chance for an improved relationship with Pyongyang, but “all they are doing now is isolating themselves further and creating greater risks to the region and to their own country.”
Kerry also described North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un as “reckless.”
According to the DPRK’s statement, “What Kerry uttered was nothing but jargon let loose by the loser admitting a total failure of the hostile policy of the Obama administration towards the DPRK.”
The statement added in an intimidating voice, “if our enemies draw a sword, we wield a longer sword, and if they point a gun, then we sabotage them with artillery. That is the nature of our army and our people.”
The DPRK is already under heavy sanctions imposed by the US and the United Nations for its missile and nuclear tests. The United States and South Korea slam the military exercises.
Pyongyang, however, says its numerous missile tests are not provocative “rehearsal for invasion,” but rather seek to improve bilateral relations and boost defense capabilities in the face of enemy threats.
North Korea accuses US President Barack Obama of plotting with regional allies to topple its government. Pyongyang says it will not relinquish its nuclear deterrence unless the US ends its hostile policy toward North Korea and dissolves the US-led UN command in South Korea.
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