North Korea deems Joe Biden's response to missile tests 'provocation'

SEOUL: North Korea deemed US President Joe Biden's criticism of its missile tests this week a wrong first step, according to a statement released on Saturday by the state media. Pyongyang on Thursday test-fired what it described as "new-type tactical guided missiles," in a show of force to the new US administration.

Japan and South Korea said they were short-range ballistic missiles. Biden on Friday said he was prepared for diplomacy but that dialogue must be contingent on the end goal of denuclearization by Pyongyang, and pledged a response if the rogue nuclear nation continues to escalate tensions.

Ri Pyong Chol, secretary of the North Korean Workers' Party's central committee, called Biden's remarks a "provocation" and an "undisguised encroachment on our state's right to self-defence", DPA news agency reported.

"I think that the new US administration obviously took its first step wrong," Ri said, as cited by North Korean state media outlet KCNA. (IANS)

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