North Korea claims the U.S. has formally recognized the North as a nuclear power, citing its description as a "nuclear-armed country" in a defense policy bill under deliberation in the U.S. Congress.
 
Rodong Sinmun, the gazette of the North's ruling Workers' Party, argued in an editorial that the fact that Pyongyang is a nuclear power is becoming more solidified.
 
The paper also said the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has become a tool for the U.S. to justify its violation of North Korea's sovereign rights.
 
The North reiterated the rationale that it was due to the U.S. that it was forced to own nuclear weapons for self-defense.
 
A draft of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2016, presented by Senator John McCain last month, includes an opinion of the U.S. Department of Defense calling North Korea a nuclear-armed country.