DPRK issues statement on nuclear issue

The DPRK's Korean Central News Agency reports that the country's Foreign Ministry issued a memorandum regarding on the ongoing nuclear issue.

The document states that the de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the ultimate goal of the DPRK, but confidence-building is the premise. It claims the DPRK worked hard to establish a nuclear-free zone through peaceful dialogue and negotiation.

However, those efforts proved invalid, and the DPRK was forced to "deter US nukes with its own nukes", the document said. It also says the DPRK will join the international nuclear disarmament effort with an equal stand with other nuclear weapon states.

In the US' recent Nuclear Posture Review, it failed to rule out the use of nuclear weapons against countries, including the DPRK, which it says violated and quit the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In response, the DPRK Foreign Ministry denounced the US Review as pouring cold water on restoring six-nation talks.