Beijing. October 12. INTERFAX - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for the country's military capacity to be increased to counter the hostile actions of the United States, saying that their statements about the desire for peace cannot be trusted, the Korean Central Telegraph Agency (KCNA) reported.
"The United States has often signaled that it is not hostile towards our country, but there have been no actions that give reason to believe that this is the case," Kim Jong-un said, speaking at the opening of an exhibition of defense developments in Pyongyang, adding that "we must be strong in the name of our descendants," the agency reports.
He noted that "the military threats facing our country are different from what we saw 10 years ago, five or three years ago." According to him, tensions on the Korean peninsula will not be easy to eliminate "because of the policy of the United States."
As an example, he called the joint military exercises conducted by the United States and South Korea in the area of the Korean peninsula and criticized Seoul, accusing it of "hypocrisy" and "double standards", of continuing to build up military potential with statements about the desire for peace, cooperation and prosperity.
Kim Jong-un expressed "deep regret" in this regard and warned that the North will respond with "decisive actions" if South Korea continues to "infringe on the DPRK's rights to self-defense."
However, he said that the strengthening of the North's armed forces is not directed against South Korea, noting that conflicts between Koreans should not be repeated "on this land."