Threatening words

last updated 8 January 2015

Pyongyang, North Korea

North Korea could surprise the U.S. with a nuclear first strike, the Foreign Ministry said this week. “We have built nuclear weapons for no other purpose than to counter U.S. nuclear threats,” a ministry spokesman said. “Pre-emptive strike is not the monopoly of the United States.” The North Korean government also suggested that the U.S. would be “wise” to give Pyongyang the same kind of nuclear energy cooperation deal that it gave India last month. North Korea backed out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003; India, which also has nuclear weapons, never joined.