¡¡  PYONGYANG, April 8 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior military official of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday warned that his country will strengthen its self-defensive nuclear deterrent in face of the US moves to stifle it.

    "The US persistent hostile policy toward the DPRK will only prompt Pyongyang to bolster its self-defensive nuclear deterrent,"said Kim Yong-chun, Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, at a national meeting marking the 12th anniversary of Kim Jong-il's election as chairman of the National Defense Committee.

    He accused that the United States should be chiefly blamed for the present deadlock of the six-party talks, saying that the United States is working hard to bring down the system in the DPRKand is staging large-scale war exercises aimed at invading the DPRK.

    "If the US imperialists dare to launch a war of aggression on the peninsula, the army and people of the DPRK will turn out as one in a just war and mercilessly wipe out the aggressors and win a final victory in the stand-off with the US," he said.

    Pyongyang announced on Feb. 10 that it has already had nuclear arms. Enditem