North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un visits the Mangyongdae Revolutionary Academy on its 70th anniversary, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang October 13, 2017. REUTERS/KCNA
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un visits the Mangyongdae Revolutionary Academy on its 70th anniversary, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang October 13, 2017. REUTERS/KCNA

 

Moscow – A high-ranking North Korean official says the country’s development of nuclear weapons is necessary because of the threat posed by the United States and contends the nuclear program is for deterrence.

The deputy chairman of the parliament of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ahn Dong Chun, made the comments Sunday at an assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in St. Petersburg, Russia.

“Our country is being threatened, the very existence of the DPRK is at stake,” he said, referring to statements by President Donald Trump at the UN General Assembly.

“Our nuclear programs are nuclear deterrence programs aimed at protecting our independence; we have no choice but to develop our nuclear programs,” he said, according to Russian state news agency Tass.

As reported by Vos Iz Neias