SEOUL, October 4. /TASS/. The United States poses the greatest global threat in terms of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), a spokesperson for the North Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The US Department of Defense earlier released the 2023 Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, which describes Russia as an "acute threat," China a "pacing challenge" and North Korea a "persistent threat."

The North Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson slammed the use of such provocative terms as an act of incitement against sovereign nations. "It is the United States that best fits the term 'persistent threat' as it has the largest arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and is the only criminal state to have ever used a nuclear bomb," the statement reads.

"The US poses the greatest global threat of weapons of mass destruction," the North Korean official stressed. He pointed to the large-scale joint drills held by the US and South Korea, statements about "ending the regime" in North Korea and the arrival of a US nuclear-armed submarine in the south of the Korean Peninsula, which is capable "of wiping out an entire country."

Such a situation requires that the North Korean armed forces take retaliatory measures in order to deter the threat of WMD being used against Pyongyang, which will emanate from the US in the medium to long term, the statement added.

In September, the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly passed amendments to the country’s constitution that enshrine the status of its nuclear forces into law as well as a policy aimed at accelerating such forces’ development for ensuring the country’s fundamental right to exist.