WORLD> Asia-Pacific
DPRK vows to boost deterrent against US hostile moves
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-12 19:56

PYONGYANG  -- The United States is trying to stifle the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) while claiming to have dialog with the Asian country, an official DPRK newspaper said Tuesday.

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"Multi-faceted contacts and dialogues are now under way to settle the nuclear issue on the peninsula and improve the DPRK-US relations," the Rodong Sinmun daily said, "but the hostile moves of the US to stifle the DPRK remain unchanged and they have gone beyond the tolerance limit," it added.

So the DPRK had to "bolster its war deterrent to the maximum with a high degree of vigilance" against Washington's "double-dealing" policy, the paper said.

The newly issued "national defense strategy" by the US Defense Department branded the DPRK as "rogue state," which was an "unbearable insult" to the DPRK, the paper said.

The US State Department confirmed Monday that the DPRK will remain on the terrorism blacklist until it accepts a comprehensive mechanism to verify its nuclear program.