Press Statement by Kim Yo Jong, Vice Department Director of C.C., WPK

Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, released the following press statement on December 21:

The U.S. and its vassal forces are persistently pushing the security environment on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia into a vortex of confrontation and conflict. Their intentional and premeditated military threats are anti-peace moves to squarely challenge the desire of mankind for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia and the rest of the world.

The ceaseless military drills of the U.S. and its vassal forces reminding one of the overall preparations for invasion under the pretext of deterring threats from someone and the frequent appearance of the U.S. nuclear weapons clearly aim at the DPRK and this is the root cause of escalating the regional situation.

However, the UNSC, again, eliminated and tolerated the U.S. and the Republic of Korea's provocation both in rhetoric and action, a direct motive of sparking the DPRK's reaction. It held a meeting to take issue with only the DPRK's exercise of the right to self-defence, thus fully revealing its true color of uselessness and weakness for international peace and security.

It is very regretful.

I feel very unpleasant over the fact that the UNSC convened an open meeting according to the brigandish demand of the U.S. and its satellite countries and brought up the sovereign right of the DPRK into discussion, and strongly condemn it.

The UNSC should place heavy responsibility on the irresponsible behavior and act of the U.S. and the ROK, which have aggravated the tension on the Korean peninsula through all sorts of military provocations all year round while inciting the anti-DPRK confrontation posture, and the international community should raise the voices of unanimously criticizing the very ones escalating the tension in the region.

From now on, the hostile forces had better worry themselves about how the DPRK would define and regard the character of the coming scenarios for the military confrontation with the DPRK predicted by the U.S. and the ROK and with what mode the DPRK would respond to them. -0-

www.kcna.kp (Juche112.12.21.)