SEOUL, September 9. /TASS/. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said on Friday his country would never waive its right to possess nuclear weapons, North Korea’s KCNA news agency reported.

"We will not waive our right for self-defense, which is crucial for the country’s existence, for the security of the state and its people, no matter how difficult the situation is," he said. "Regardless of the political and military situation on the Korean peninsula, brought about by the US, we won’t reject nuclear weapons, because we need to deter the United States, which is a nuclear power."

"The United States try to make us reject nuclear weapons and waive our right for self-defense. The goal of the US is to weaken us and to eventually destroy," the North Korean leader added.

North Korea will keep strengthening its nuclear potential and expand its nuclear capabilities, the KCNA news agency reported.

"We will keep strengthening combat readiness in the nuclear sphere, expand capabilities to use nuclear weapons," North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said.