The current tensions on the Korean Peninsula prove that North Korea made the right decision to bolster its nuclear arsenal, Pyongyang's top diplomat said, accusing South Korea and the U.S. of seeking confrontation with the communist nation, Yonhap News Agency said Saturday.
Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun made the remark in an interview with Russia's Interfax news agency Friday ahead of his planned trip to Moscow, set for Dec. 12-15. Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch that Pak departed Saturday for Russia.
"Recently, the situation on the Korean Peninsula has been in quite a dangerous stage, while inter-Korean relations are worse than ever," Pak said in the interview.
"The main reason behind this escalation is the United States' hostile policy in relation to the DPRK and the policy of confrontation with the North being pursued by the current ruling forces of South Korea."
DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The visit comes amid a flurry of diplomacy to deal with high tensions over North Korea's artillery attack on South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island, which killed four, including two civilians.
"We once again saw the rightness of our choice in favor of the Seongun policy and the comprehensive strengthening of our self-defense potential based on nuclear deterrence forces," he said. Seongun refers to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's "military-first" policy, or the priority on building stronger armed forces.
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