The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will maintain and even enhance its nuclear deterrent force unless the United States drops its hostile policy toward the country, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Although the United States had called for a peaceful solution to the DPRK nuclear issue, and promised to put forward new plans at the next round of the six-party talks, it had not changed its anti-DPRK policy, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted the spokesman as saying.

The United States, China, the DPRK, Russia, Japan and South Korea held talks in Beijing last month, during which Pyongyang demanded a non-aggression treaty with Washington in return for the ultimate "de-nuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula.

In fact, the United States, strengthened its isolation and containment against the DPRK following the Beijing talks, said the spokesman. This reflected a continued US hostile policy, he added.

The first session of the 11th Supreme People's Assembly, which ended on Sept. 3, passed a resolution supporting the DPRK government's stance on the nuclear issue, he said.

"We will take essential measures to maintain and enforce our nuclear deterrent force for preventing nuclear attacks by the United States and safeguarding the peace on and around the Korean Peninsula," said the spokesman.

The DPRK has repeatedly declared that it will have no way but to seek "nuclear deterrent force" if the United States does not abandon its anti-DPRK policy and continues to threaten the DPRK with nuclear weapons.

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2003)