He criticized North Korea as “the only country in the world defying the worldwide movement towards responsibility” by continuing to develop its missile program.
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“Whether we conduct additional nuclear tests depends on the United States”, he said, adding it was Washington that “compromised the possibility of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula”.
In earlier remarks to the ASEAN conference, Ri said North Korea had made “an inevitable strategic decision that there is no other option but facing with nuclear deterrent the never ending nuclear blackmails of the U.S”.
He said North Korea is believed to have used a river because the direction of wind isn’t favorable in the summer to fly propaganda balloons from north to south.
The leaflet distribution is the latest provocation by the North after it test-fired three ballistic missiles on July 19 in protest against the South’s decision to deploy an advanced US anti-missile system by 2017.
With the tensions dominating talks in the Laos capital Vientiane, Kerry issued a stern warning to the North.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Laos.
The issue of the North’s weapons programme has dominated this week’s talks in Vientiane – a rare opportunity for all the members of the six-party process to be in the same room.
The two sides have been engaging in a battle of loudspeaker broadcasts at the border for several months, with Seoul attempting to inform ordinary North Korean soldiers and civilians about the freedoms it says exist outside Pyongyang’s repressive state. “But if it inhibits North Korea, under some extreme circumstances, from using its capabilities, and instills some confidence in the government of South Korea to defend key assets and population areas in a more integrated fashion, then it’ll be money well spent”.
“Iran, a powerful and well developed country with a long history of thousands of years”, has decided it would not pursue nuclear weapons in order to have economic sanctions lifted, Kerry said. According to a North Korea official, the meeting took place as part of normalizing communication between the long-time allies.
Beijing is Pyongyang’s main ally but its patience has worn thin.
The leaflets also carried a message celebrating the North’s “victory” against the U.N. Forces during the Korean War (1950-53).
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Soldiers have been ordered to capture the snakes before they reach land and hatch eggs, so have had to wade into the river, which the source said has led to complains.
