The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Friday that the removal of the US nuclear threat, rather than Pyongyang's abandonment of its nuclear program, is the focus of the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in a commentary rebuffed allegations made by the US and its allies that Pyongyang's dismantlement of its nuclear program would lead to the denuclearization of the peninsula.

"It is a gross distortion of the true nature of the denuclearization of the peninsula," said the commentary.

"The DPRK initiated the denuclearization of the peninsula and exerted efforts for its materialization. However, the US shipped more than 1,000 nuclear weapons into South Korea, posing constant threat to the DPRK, torpedoing the denuclearization process on the peninsula," it said.

"The present US administration adopted a preemptive nuclear attack on the DPRK as a state policy, thus compelling the latter to have access to nuclear weapons to safeguard its own system and existence," the article added.

"If the issue of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula is to be properly discussed, it is necessary to focus on removing US nuclear threat, and establishing the relations of confidence between the DPRK and the countries concerned," the commentary stressed.

Source: Xinhua