Press Statement of Spokesman for DPRK Ministry of

National Defence

Pyongyang, July 13 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Ministry of National Defence
released the following press statement "Our army will guarantee the national security in
every way with its powerful nuclear war deterrent readiness" on July 13:
The chief executives of the U.S. and the ROK made public a "joint statement" that openly plotted a nuclear showdown with the DPRK on July 11. The military of the U.S. and the ROK signed the "guidelines on nuclear deterrence and nuclear operations on the Korean peninsula," occasioned by the Washington NATO Summit, thus betraying their sinister intention to step up their preparations for a nuclear war against the DPRK by realizing the integration of the nuclear forces of the U.S. and the conventional
forces of the ROK.
The DPRK Ministry of National Defence strongly denounces and rejects the reckless
provocative act of the U.S. and the ROK that pushes the regional military tensions to
extremes through extremely incendiary and malicious rhetoric and provocative action.
The provocative behavior fully shown again by the U.S. and the ROK is the root cause of
endangering the regional security.
We come to the conclusion that there is only one option for us to take against such
confrontational fanatics.
Our enemies' nuclear threat, which is ever-escalating in an offensive and frantic manner, and
the dangerous regional security environment brought by it urgently require the DPRK to
further improve its nuclear deterrent readiness and add important elements to the
composition of the deterrent.
We know what we have to do and we will continue our activities necessary for it.
We seriously warn the hostile states not to commit such provocative acts causing instability
any more.
If they ignore this warning, they will have to pay an unimaginably harsh price for it. -0-