Spokesman for DPRK Foreign Ministry Blasts U.S. Secretary of Defense's Reckless Remarks

Pyongyang, April 11 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave the following answer to the question raised by KCNA on Friday as regards the reckless remarks made by the U.S. secretary of Defense against the DPRK under the pretext of arms buildup in the Asia-Pacific region:
    U.S. Secretary of Defense Hagel said during his recent junkets to neighboring countries of the DPRK that the U.S. would deploy two more Aegis ships in Japan by 2017 under the pretext of "aggression from north Korea."
    What he uttered were calculated remarks intended to shift the blame for the escalating tension on the DPRK and justify the arms buildup for carrying out the U.S. pivot to Asia-Pacific strategy.
    Entering this year, the U.S. has persistently staged joint military drills with south Korean puppet forces, blocking the detente on the Korean peninsula and the process to improve the north-south relations which were ascribable to the DPRK's sincere efforts and deliberately straining the situation. This is pursuant to its strategic scenario to invent a pretext for arms buildup in the Asia-Pacific.
    The U.S. recent announcement of its plan to additionally deploy Aegis ships is part of its moves to bolster up its missile defence system targeting at big countries in Eurasia which has nothing to do with the DPRK's nuclear issue.
    The U.S. authorities including Hagel quite often talk about "provocation" and "threat" from the DPRK but they can never conceal their true colors as an aggressor.
    Facts go to clearly prove that the U.S. is an arch criminal disturbing peace and security and escalating tension on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia. -0-