North Korea accuses US of inciting tension with 'nuclear supremacy'

North Korea accused the United States of inciting regional tensions with its nuclear programme with "nuclear supremacy"and claimed that Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities are part of a self-defensive move to avert a nuclear war.

KCNA said on Tuesday (Oct 17) that Kim Kwang Myong, described by the state media as a researcher at the Foreign Ministry's Institute for Disarmament and Peace, blamed the US for strategic instability destroying world peace.

His reported comments come as North Korea raised alarm in the region with regular launches of missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) that can strike the continental United States.

Kim mentioned the recent findings by the US Strategic Posture Commission as he called for enhancing the country's nuclear weapons modernisation programme.

As quoted, Kim said, "The US, the world's biggest nuclear weapons state and the world's first nuclear user which adopted the preemptive nuclear attack on other countries as its national policy, is talking about 'nuclear threat' from someone. This is a sophism."

Kim also said that the US wants to improve its preemptive nuclear strike capability against North Korea by building a missile defence system. He said that Washington is sending strategic assets to the region and "ultra-modern military hardware" to its allies.

He added, "The reality urgently requires the DPRK, which is standing in confrontation with the US imperialism, the most aggressive nuclear war criminal force, to bolster up its self-defensive military capabilities for deterring a nuclear war."

KCNA also said in another article that Kim Tong Myong, who is a researcher at the Society for International Politics Study, criticised NATO's annual nuclear exercises, calling them"Steadfast Noon".

As quoted, Kim said, "The reality goes to prove once again that the dark clouds of a dreadful thermonuclear war can never be wiped out as long as the US, a heinous nuclear war killer which regards nukes as the key for its hegemonic foreign policy, exists."

Watch:Russian leader Vladimir Putin arrives in China to meet Xi Jinping

Is North Korea sending weapons to Russia for war?

West has claimed so but the Kremlin said on Tuesday (Oct 17) that there was "no proof" North Korea was sendingweapons to Russia after Washington released images purportedly showing arms shipments from Pyongyang.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia last month and met President Vladimir Putin, sparking speculation among Western countries over the possibility of a potential arms deal.

"They report this all the time, without providing any proof," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies when asked about the reported arms shipments.

(With inputs from agencies)

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