North Korea Says U.S. Policy Is Hostile, Vows To Respond

A top North Korean official on Sunday warned the U.S. will face "a very grave situation" after President Joe Biden said the country posed a security threat during his first policy speech to the U.S. Congress last week.

The warning, carried on state-run news agency KCNA, was made after Washington said U.S. officials had finalized a months-long evaluation of North Korean policy, and highlighted the challenges Biden faces as he seeks to break away from the blunders of his predecessors, Associated Press reported.

During his speech to Congress, Biden said North Korea and Iran's nuclear programs were "a serious threat" to the security of the United States and the world. Biden vowed to address the two countries' nuclear ambitions through "diplomacy and stern deterrence."

"His statement clearly reflects his intent to keep enforcing the hostile policy toward the our country as it had been done by the U.S. for over half a century," Reuters quoted Kwon Jong Gun, a senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official, as saying in a statement.

A separate statement claimed the U.S. was engaged in "political chicanery" when the State Department called North Korea one of the "most repressive and totalitarian states in the world."

In another statement, a North Korean Foreign Ministry representative accused the U.S. of insulting the dignity of the country's supreme leadership by condemning its human rights situation.

Responding to the State Department's comments, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said Washington "has no right to even discuss human rights," CNN said.

Kwon did not specify what steps North Korea would carry out, and his statement could be considered an effort to pressure the Biden administration as it's formulating its policy towards the North.

Meanwhile, Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, are set to meet in Washington later this month.