North Korea says it will speed up nuke program in response to US

In this Saturday, April 15, 2017, file photo, a submarine missile is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. North Korea's big day, the anniversary of the birth of its founding leader, Kim Il Sung, came and went with no underground nuclear test by the North, and no pre-emptive strikes off the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier sent to waters off the Korean Peninsula by President Donald Trump. Just hours before Vice President Mike Pence began his visit to Seoul on Sunday, Pyongyang fired off a ballistic missile — but it appears to have exploded seconds after it got off the ground. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

In this April 15, 2017, file photo, a submarine missile is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country’s late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. AP

UNITED NATIONS — North Korea’s Foreign Ministry says the country will speed up measures to bolster its nuclear program “at the maximum pace” in response to the new U.S. policy that calls for new sanctions and “maximum pressure and engagement.”

A statement from the Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday that was circulated by North Korea’s U.N. Mission says the government is ready to respond to any option taken by the United States.

It says that during recent U.S.-South Korean military drills, “U.S. aggression hysteria” reached its highest point and the situation on the Korean peninsula inched closer “to the brink of nuclear war.”

It says that unless Washington ends its “hostile policy” and nuclear threats, North Korea “will continue to bolster its military capabilities for self-defense and pre-emptive nuclear attack” despite “manifold difficulties.” CBB

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