N. Korea blasts S. Korea-US defense talks on WMD response
This file photo, released by the Korean Central News Agency, Sept. 10, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un standing behind the podium during a national founding day ceremony the previous day. Yonhap
North Korea on Wednesday denounced defense talks between South Korea and the United States last week on ways to counter Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction (WMD), state media reported.
A spokesperson for the North's defense ministry blasted the talks held last Thursday, where the allies agreed to establish a system to share information on the North's WMD, according to Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"This is an open declaration of confrontation to make the use of nuclear and biochemical weapons against the DPRK in case of contingency on the Korean peninsula a fait accompli," the spokesperson said in a statement released by the KCNA.
DPRK stands for North Korea's official name — the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Such a threat of WMD attack and use by the enemy against the DPRK may be considered a crucial security challenge that requires the latter to invoke the relevant provision of the law on the state nuclear force policy," the spokesperson said.
"I recommend that the U.S. correctly interprets the meaning of the invoking of the relevant provision and accepts it as a grave warning."
North Korea's law on nuclear forces policy, adopted in 2022, outlines the conditions for nuclear weapon use, including when a nuclear or WMD attack is judged to be imminent.