North Korea today urged the United States to “abandon the hostile policy” against it and accused it of the recent escalation of tensions on the peninsula, after the succession of missile tests by the regimen for the last few weeks.
Through a statement from the North Korean Foreign Ministry, Pyongyang blamed Washington “for the failure of the situation” on the Korean peninsula and for the “spiral of aggravated tension.”
The statement also stresses that the joint military exercises carried out by the United States on the peninsula “pose a serious threat to” national security.
“The United States would do well to stop its military threats against our country, and withdraw its hostile policy in the first place rather than publicize the so-called ‘diplomatic solution’ and ‘dialogue,'” the note said.
The regime led by Kim Jong-un published this statement on the same day that the Japanese foreign minister and his American counterpart had a telephone conversation where they confirmed their cooperation in defense matters after the recent North Korean tests.
Japanese Yoshimada Hayashi and American Antony Blinken agreed that the North’s arms activities “threaten the peace and stability of Japan, the region and the international community,” the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Hayashi and Blinken highlighted their concern over Pyongyang’s latest launch of a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range projectile, the longest-range in more than four years, which was fired last Sunday into the Sea of Japan (East Sea in the two Koreas), and marked the seventh weapons test in a month.