North Korea on Saturday blamed the United States for what it called a breakdown in international arms control systems and said Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons were the right response to ensure the balance of power in the region, Reuters reported..

“The Korean Peninsula is turning into the world’s largest powder keg and battlefield through the military expansion scheme led by the US and its followers,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The latest moves by South Korea and Japan have shown that the concentration of forces of the US and its allies exceeds the danger line and cannot be tolerated, the quoted source added.

The comments came after the US and South Korea announced on Friday that they plan to hold large-scale military exercises from March 13 to 23 to strengthen the allies’ joint defense posture, including by focusing on what they called North Korean aggression.

North Korea claims that such joint military exercises are proof that the US and its allies are hostile and bent on regime change in North Korea. (Source Agerpres)