PYONGYANG: A senior North Korean official has lashed out at France after it warned Pyongyang鈥檚 nuclear ambition could pose a threat to Europe, saying Paris must abandon its own atomic weapons first.
Ri Tok-Son, deputy director of the foreign ministry鈥檚 European department, said France鈥檚 claim that a nuclear missile launched from the North could strike Europe was 鈥減reposterous.鈥�
He stressed that the North鈥檚 atomic arsenal was a deterrent against US nuclear threats which Paris does not face.
鈥淩ecently, high ranking French politicians startled the people by saying absurd things with regards to the DPRK鈥檚 (North Korea鈥檚) successful detonation of an H-bomb for ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile),鈥� Ri said in an interview with AFP in Pyongyang on Friday.
The comments came just hours before the US made a formal request for a UN Security Council vote on tough new sanctions against the repressive regime.
The North conducted its sixth nuclear test a week ago 鈥� saying it was a hydrogen bomb that could be fitted into a missile 鈥� sparking international condemnation and calls for further measures to force an end to the perilous stand-off.
French President Emmanuel Macron called on the UN Sunday to 鈥渜uickly react鈥� to the escalation and urged the European Union to come up with a 鈥渃lear and united鈥� response.
His foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned that North Korea could have the capacity to deliver a nuclear strike on the US and even Europe 鈥渨ithin months.鈥�
In a riposte, Ri said: 鈥淭hey busied themselves ... making preposterous remarks like 鈥榯he nuclear missile of North Korea are military means that can strike Europe鈥�.鈥� He did not refer to Macron or Le Drian by name.
鈥淚t is ridiculous to say that the nuclear weapons of the DPRK, the deterrent force against the nuclear threat and blackmail of the US, can aim at Europe,鈥� he added.
鈥淚f nuclear weapons are such bad things, then France should first give up its nuclear weapons since it is not under anyone鈥檚 nuclear threat.鈥�
Washington has presented a draft UN resolution calling for an oil embargo on North Korea, an assets freeze on leader Kim Jong-Un, a ban on textiles and an end to payments of North Korean guest workers.
While in North Korea, which was marking the nation鈥檚 founding anniversary Saturday, local media issued fresh calls for a nuclear arms buildup, in defiance of the mounting international sanctions.