North Korea said that it had no choice but to “counter nuclear with nuclear” because of the U.S. arsenal.
The hermit nation made the bellicose statement Thursday, which corresponds with the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.
“In order to eliminate the nuclear threats from the U.S., the DPRK government made all possible efforts either through dialogue or in resort to the international law, but all ended in vain,” said North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Institute for Disarmament and Peace in a 5,500-word report, according to NK News. “The option left was only one, and that was to counter nuclear with nuclear.”
North Korea added that a “strong war deterrent for national defense came to stand out as an indispensable strategic option.”
The report comes after a period of escalated tension between North Korea and South Korea. Earlier this month, North Korea bombed an inter-Korean liaison office, and the South Korean Ministry of Defense responded by saying it would maintain a “resolute military posture.” North Korea also threatened to send troops into demilitarized areas along the border, a breach of the 2018 inter-Korean military treaty.
Despite the bombing of the liaison office and threats to send its military to the border, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly scrapped plans to increase military actions against South Korea following a Tuesday meeting with the country’s central military commission.
