By Kyu-seok Shim and Joyce Lee
SEOUL, Aug 27 (Reuters) – North Korea’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday denounced a U.S. decision to approve the sale of missiles and related equipment to South Korea, vowing to respond “strongly and immediately” to hostile acts in various areas, state media KCNA reported.
The remarks come as U.S. President Donald Trump has renewed overtures to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, expressing interest in another meeting and saying this month that Kim had responded to his outreach. Analysts say Pyongyang has shown little official willingness to resume talks.
“We once again and clearly recognized the expression of the U.S. open attitude to be always hostile to the DPRK,” a ministry spokesperson said in remarks carried by KCNA. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.The spokesperson was responding to the U.S. State Department’s approval of a potential sale to South Korea of $125 million worth of AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air tactical missiles and related equipment, which Pyongyang said posed “a new threat” to its security environment.
North Korea also criticised a U.S. plan to fund activities related to documenting its human rights situation and gathering information on the country, describing the efforts as part of a campaign aimed at creating instability in its social system.
The spokesperson said Washington had this year approved sales to South Korea of various weapons systems, including advanced air-to-air missiles, naval helicopters, attack helicopters and precision-guided bombs, while encouraging Seoul to boost its war-fighting capabilities.
“Now that the military integration of the U.S. and its allies is being accelerated in the Asia-Pacific region, we cannot overlook the adverse effect of the U.S. sale of its weapons to the ROK on the regional security environment,” the spokesperson added, using the acronym for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.
North Korea is aware of such threats and will have a “serious, immediate and powerful response” to hostile acts in different spheres, the official added.
(Reporting by Kyu-seok ShimEditing by Ed Davies)
