Pyongyang to continue to build up its nuclear potential — senior lawmaker

ST. PETERSBURG, October 16. /TASS/. North Korea will continue to build up its nuclear potential and will not discuss its right to nuclear weapons as long as a US threat is in place, Deputy Chairman of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly An Tong Chun, who heads his country’s delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, said at a plenary session on Monday. "We are determined to build up our nuclear forces until peace in struggle with the United States is secured," he said. "North Korea will never discuss its right to nuclear weapons as long as the United States keeps its nuclear threat and belligerent policy towards North Korea." Pyongyang will not discuss its right to nuclear weapons as long as it sees a threat from the United States, Ahn Dong Chun said. "North Korea will never discuss its right to nuclear weapons as long as the United States keeps its nuclear threat and belligerent policy towards North Korea," he said. "North Korea will invigorate its efforts to ensure its sovereignty and the right to exist, to preserve peace and security in the region and will spare no effort to reach parity with the United States." Ahn Dong Chun also said that it was the United States who prompted Pyongyang to develop a nuclear program. "It was the United States who prompted the DPRK to create a hydrogen bomb and ballistic missiles," he stressed. Pyongyang considers sanctions against North Korea illegal Pyongyang considers unilateral sanctions against the DPRK to be absolutely illegal, Ahn Dong Chun said. "Sanctions against the DPRK are aimed at preventing our foreign trade even in the fields crucial for our people’s survival," he said. "These resolutions are totally illegal and run contrary to the United Nations Charter and the statutes of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. It is a manifestation of state terrorism aimed at destroying modern civilization and plunging the Korean Peninsula into medieval darkness," he stressed. "The US imposed a horrible and absolutely unfair economic blockade against us, as well as sanctions. At the same time, the measures that we have been taking for self-defense are branded as ‘a global threat,’ while they are only aimed at ensuring the existence and security of our country, which has been facing US threats," Ahn Dong Chun pointed out. Read more