North Korea denounces Pelosi for deterrence talks during S.Korea visit

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea denounced U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday for supporting deterrence against North Korea during her visit to South Korea this week.

Pelosi and her South Korean counterpart, National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, vowed on Thursday to achieve North Korean denuclearisation during her stop in South Korea after visiting Taiwan.

North Korean state media KCNA said Pelosi’s remarks were part of a U.S. scheme to escalate tensions in the Korean peninsula. KCNA also said Pelosi was trying to justify hostile American policy against North Korea and support U.S. arms buildup.

“Pelosi, the worst destroyer of international peace and stability, had… incurred the wrath of the Chinese people for her recent junket to Taiwan,” the KCNA statement said, citing Jo Yong Sam, director general of the Department of Press and Information at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry.

“The U.S. will have to pay dearly for all the sources of trouble spawned by her wherever she went.”

North Korea made preparations for a nuclear test during the first six months of this year, according to an excerpt of a confidential United Nations report seen by Reuters on Thursday.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Josie Kao)