The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday said it is necessary to remove the growing US nuclear threat to the Korean Peninsula if the region is to be denuclearized.

"If the Korean Peninsula is to be denuclearized, it is necessary to put an end to the growing US nuclear threat in and around the peninsula," a spokesman for the DPRK's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"If the peninsula is to be nuclear-free, it is necessary to clear South Korea of all nuclear weapons of the US and root out every element that can help South Korea have access to nukes," he said.

The spokesman also added that "before anything else the US should roll back its hostile policy aimed at toppling the system of the DPRK through a nuclear war."

He said the DPRK's consistent strategic goal is to achieve lasting peace and stability and realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

"The six-party talks should provide a platform for seeking comprehensive ways of substantially and fairly realizing the denuclearization of the peninsula, not just as a bargaining ground where a give-and-take type way of solution is discussed," the spokesman said, referring to the talks attended by China, DPRK, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the US.

"Now that the DPRK has become a full-fledged nuclear weapons state, the six-party talks should be disarmament talks where the participating countries negotiate the issue on an equal footing," he added.

The "talks" are made unequal by the US chairing the discussions and issuing commands to the DPRK while the DPRK is expected to kneel and meet US demands, the spokesman said. This can never help find a solution to the nuclear issue, he concluded.

"On the contrary, they will only escalate the confrontation and tensions. If the six-party talks are to credibly fulfill their mission, it is necessary to convert them into the means of seeking to completely remove the US threat of nukes and a nuclear war from the peninsula and its vicinity," the spokesman stressed.

"The DPRK will as ever do its best to avert a war and realize the comprehensive denuclearization on the peninsula," he added.

Source: Xinhua