North Korea’s defense minister says the regime will continue to pursue military might, including nuclear weapons, unless Washington and Seoul abandon hostile policies.
 
Speaking at the Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS) on Thursday, Gen. Hyon Yong-chol claimed the United States poses a perpetual nuclear threat to the North, while conducting military drills that are aimed at an invasion.

[Sound bite: Gen. Hyon Yong-chol - Minister of the People's Armed Forces, DPRK]
"On the Korean Peninsula, the security balance has already destroyed and it is in an uncontrollable situation... We will sternly respond to a nuclear, or any other form of a war the the U.S. wants." 

The minister of the People's Armed Forces said if Washington had signed a peace treaty with North Korea, the North would not have pursued nuclear weapons in the first place. He said the North’s decision to pursue nuclear capabilities was an inevitable reaction to Washington’s half century-long hostile policies toward the regime.
 
Hyon gave a 15-minute speech at the conference, which gathered defense ministers from 11 countries including China and Iran.