Kim Jong-Un: US "Root Cause" of Tensions in Korean Peninsula
North Korean Leader, Kim Jong-un, says Pyongyang is increasing its military power in the course of defending the country.
Kim Jong-un described the US as being the root cause of tensions in the Korean peninsula.
According to the North Korean media, the Korean leader said that his country's development of weapons is for self-defense against the US' hostile policies and South Korea's military mobilization, which threatens stability in the peninsula.
Kim said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the Defense Development Exhibition titled "Self-Defense-2021" that North Korea is increasing its deterrence for self-defense purposes, and not to start a war.
“We are not discussing war with anyone, but rather to prevent war itself and to literally increase war deterrence for the protection of national sovereignty,” he said.
He also considered that Washington's statements that it bears no hostility toward North Korea are hard to believe in the face of its continued "wrong judgments and actions."
North Korea had earlier considered that South Korea's calls to end the Korean War are premature, with North Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister saying there are no guarantees that such a move will lead to an end of the US hostile policies toward Pyongyang.
On the other side of the Pacific, US President Joe Biden said his country wants sustainable diplomacy in order to resolve North Korea's nuclear and missile crisis.
Official media outlets in North Korea accused the United States on several occasions of double standards with regard to its military activities and the US hostile policies toward Pyongyang, which impedes the resumption of talks on nuclear and missile arms programs.