DPRK slams British defense chief for attacking Pyongyang over nuke, missile program

PYONGYANG, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has slammed British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson for calling Pyongyang a threat to London, according to Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Saturday.

KCNA quoted a spokesperson of the Korea-Europe Association as saying that on Dec. 19 Williamson told a British newspaper that "the pariah regime is on the pathway to have ballistic missiles that could strike London" and that "this is a real threat to the U.K."

Williamson also reportedly said, "Britain has to step up in terms of dealing with it."

"We are shocked that the current defense secretary of Britain, right after taking office, expressed his view that our state nuclear force poses a 'threat to London,'" said the spokesman of the official DPRK organ in charge of developing relations with European countries.

The spokesman added that the defense secretary of a country should at least have the ability to see what constitutes a real threat, saying "the U.S. is the rogue state that threatens to use force on anyone who even slightly offends it."

The spokesman's remarks came one day after the United Nations Security Council adopted a new resolution to further tighten sanctions against the DPRK in response to its ballistic missile launch late last month.

On Nov. 29, the DPRK announced that it had successfully test-fired a newly developed "Hwasong-15" Intercontinental Ballistic Missile capable of striking the entire U.S. mainland. Enditem