North Korea: Nuclear weapon is a matter of life and death for us

Pyongyang does not intend to have talks with Washington about its nuclear weapons, a senior North Korean diplomat said, claiming that nuclear possession is a matter of Life And Death for North Korea, RIA news agency said.

Fighting fire with fire

US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan said on Thursday that the United States does not rule out the possibility of direct talks with North Korea. "For us, this is a question of life and death. The current situation only strengthens us in the view that we need nuclear weapons to divert the potential attack," said Choe Son-hui, of North America's Department of Foreign Affairs.

"We will respond to the fire with fire," he stressed at a non-proliferation conference in Moscow, according to RIA.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Sunday that President Donald Trump had instructed him to pursue diplomatic efforts to calm the growing tensions with Pyongyang, adding that " diplomatic efforts will continue until the first bomb falls". Tillerson's words came during the growing tensions between the United States and North Korea after series of nuclear and missile experiments between Pyongyang.

North Korea has conducted a series of nuclear tests in recent weeks and earlier, and fired two missiles across Japan.

'Nuclear football'

A North Korean diplomat told on Friday that North Korea does not intend to end its nuclear testing, because it is the question of self-defense, and he accused Trump of playing "nuclear football," according to the RIA news agency reports.

This diplomat told RIA that a US department member for the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs named Nam Hyok-Tsen spoke at a non-proliferation gathering in Russia.

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is constantly assured that nuclear weapons development is the way to go, and we are intensifying our intentions of conducting experiments to neutralize the US nuclear threat," the RIA diplomat said.

RIA also states that the diplomat said at the same rally that Trump had "thousands" of weapons of that type available and that the American president plays "nuclear football."

Un ambassador for North Korea said that a nuclear war could break out "every moment".

The United States and South Korea began joint military exercises of the Navy along the western and eastern coast of the peninsula. Exercises include preparation for evacuation in South Korea and are one of the largest conducted so far. Pyongyang regards them as "invasion exercises" in their country.