TOKYO, August 24. /TASS/. The concept of nuclear threat emerged solely due to the United States’ policies, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, commenting on media reports that US President Joe Biden had approved a classified strategic nuclear plan in March.

"The North Korean Foreign Ministry keeps a close eye on the behavior of the United States, which continues to fabricate someone else’s ‘nuclear threat,’ obsessed with ensuring unilateral nuclear superiority. We express concern about it as we strongly oppose and reject it. The move to update the nuclear policy of the US - a country that has the largest nuclear weapon arsenal in the world - will have a significant negative impact on the security situation and the nuclear disarmament system," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted the spokesperson as saying.

"The US likes to speak about ‘nuclear threats’ from others without any context, while it is the US that is the most irresponsible player and the rogue state provoking a nuclear arms race and increasing the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict. Had the US refrained from creating and using nuclear weapons, the concept of nuclear threat would never have emerged," the North Korean diplomat concluded.

The New York Times reported earlier that Biden "approved in March a highly classified nuclear strategic plan for the United States that, for the first time, reorients America’s deterrent strategy to focus on China’s rapid expansion in its nuclear arsenal." According to the paper, "the Pentagon believes China’s stockpiles will rival the size and diversity of the United States’ and Russia’s over the next decade." The newspaper added that Biden had ordered the US forces to prepare for possible coordinated nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea.