North Korea vowed on Saturday to boost its "nuclear power" to counter Washington's hostile policy, saying it had become apparent the United States aimed to invade the North under the guise of human rights abuses.
Member countries of the United Nations on Thursday urged the Security Council to consider referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity as alleged in a U.N. inquiry report released earlier this year.
"Now that the U.S. hostile policy with an aim to invade our republic under the guise of human rights has become apparent, the idea of denuclearising the Korean peninsula itself is no longer valid," the North's Foreign Ministry spokesman said on KCNA .
"Our effort to strengthen our defensive military power, including nuclear power will be doubly stepped up in every way," the spokesman said in a statement.
A U.N. Commission of Inquiry report published in February detailed wide-ranging abuses in North Korea, including prison camps, systematic torture, starvation and killings comparable to Nazi-era atrocities.
