N. Korea: U.S. responsible for crisis

PYONGYANG, North Korea, June 24 (UPI) -- The United States, not North Korea, is responsible for provoking a crisis on the Korean peninsula by wielding a "nuclear stick," Pyongyang says.

In a commentary published Tuesday in the main North Korean daily Rodong Sinmun and carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, officials said the North is being forced to respond to those who "brandish a nuclear stick with (a) powerful nuclear deterrent."

"The U.S., taking issue with these measures, instigated the U.N. Security Council to adopt a 'resolution on sanctions' against DPRK (North Korea)," the commentary said. "Lurking behind this is a sinister intention to launch a war of aggression against the DPRK on an open and legitimate basis under the name of the U.N. and swallow up the whole of Korea and then bring its military boundary in Northeast Asia close to China and Russia."

North Korea would be "choked off" by the United States if had no nuclear weapons, the commentary said.

The U.N. Security Council this month unanimously approved tighter sanctions on Pyongyang following its May 25 nuclear test, banning most arms imports into the country.