A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) issued the following press statement on February 2:

The military and political situation in the Korean peninsula and the region has reached an extremely dangerous phase due to the reckless military confrontations and hostile acts of the U.S. and its vassal forces.

The U.S. is now working hard to “demonize” the DPRK, spreading again all sorts of rumors. Meanwhile, it, together with its vassal forces, is intensifying the full-scale offensive for putting pressure on the DPRK in all aspects including “human rights”, sanctions and military affairs.

In particular, the U.S. is going to ignite an all-out showdown with the DPRK through continued combined drills whose scale and scope are largely extended, including a “drill for operating extended deterrence means” and the largest-ever field mobile live shell firing drill simulating the use of nuclear weapons, together with south Korea from February.

During his visit to south Korea on January 31, the U.S. Secretary of Defense openly declared that the U.S. would deploy more strategic assets such as the fifth generation stealth fighters and nuclear carriers, unhesitatingly talking about the use of nuclear weapons against the DPRK. This is a vivid expression of the U.S. dangerous scenario which will result in turning the Korean peninsula into a huge war magazine and a more critical war zone.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK makes clear once again our principled stand on the U.S. in order to cope with its evermore pronounced, heinous anti-DPRK policy and dangerous military move.

First, the DPRK will take the toughest reaction to any military attempt of the U.S., on the principle of “nuke for nuke and an all-out confrontation for an all-out confrontation!”

We do not react to every ill-boding movement shown by the U.S. behind the signboard of “offer of extended deterrence” and “strengthened alliance”, but this does never mean that we ignore or take no note of them.

We are seeing through the true intention of the U.S.

The DPRK has a clear counteraction strategy capable of coping with any short- and long-term scenarios attempted by the U.S. and its vassal forces, and will strongly control the present and future potential challenges with the most overwhelming nuclear force.

If the U.S. continues to introduce strategic assets into the Korean peninsula and its surrounding area, the DPRK will make clearer its relevant deterring activities without fail according to their nature.

Second, the DPRK is not interested in any contact or dialogue with the U.S. as long as the latter persists in its hostile policy and confrontational line.

The U.S. goes so shameless as to seek to gain time by touting dialogue with the DPRK under a deceptive signboard that it has no intent to be hostile toward the DPRK, while pursuing the most heinous hostile policy towards the DPRK.

The escalating tension in the Korean peninsula and the region is entirely attributable to the hostile policy of the U.S. forcing the DPRK to disarm itself unilaterally through sanctions and military pressure and pursuing the military expansion of its allies.

The decades-long history of DPRK-U.S. confrontation shows that the DPRK should deal with the U.S. imperialists by force only, as they are dreaming of disarming it and bringing down its social system with the “end” of the DPRK set as a goal of their administration.

The more dangerous the U.S. threat to the DPRK gets, the stronger backfire the U.S. will face in direct proportion to it.

The DPRK will defend peace and security of the Korean peninsula and the region in a responsible manner with powerful deterrent until the U.S. and its vassal forces’ hostile policy and military threat are rooted out.