The U.S. and South Korea have maintained that they won't negotiate with the North unless it is willing to discuss curbing its nuclear weapons and missile program.In its report Saturday, KCNA said North Korea had taken steps for "bolstering the capabilities for self-defense and pre-emptive attacks with nuclear force" in the face of a continued "nuclear threat and blackmail and war drills" by the United States and its "vassal forces. "The North often lashes out at the annual military drills between the United States and South Korea, which the allies describe as defensive in nature.KCNA accused President Donald Trump of employing unprecedented hostile policies against North Korea and threatening it with talks of pre-emptive strikes. It described North Korea as an "undeniable new strategic state and nuclear power. Its entity as an invincible power can neither be undermined nor be stamped out," KCNA said. "The DPRK, as a responsible nuclear weapons state, will lead the trend of history to the only road of independence," it added, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Source: Times of India December 30, 2017 09:30 UTC