Pyongyang, October 19 (KCNA) -- An Tong Chun, vice-chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly heading a DPRK delegation, made a speech at the 137th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held in Russia on Oct. 14-18.
It is an important issue for promoting mutual understanding and friendship among countries and regions and ensuring world peace and sustained development to encourage dialogue among nations and religions and develop cooperation based on cultural diversity, he said, and continued:

But quite contrary to the international community's general recognition and efforts, racial, cultural, religious and sexual discrimination and conflict as well as those in terms of political belief have become an acute and extreme international issue, going beyond the boundary of a country and region.

U.S. President Trump's remarks threatening total destruction of a sovereign state, a nation with differing ideology and social system from it, at the recent UN General Assembly discussing the world peace clearly proves who is a chief culprit destroying diversity of ideology, system, religion and culture.

The U.S. stages almost every day round the year large-scale war exercises aimed at regime change and collapse of social system in the DPRK after introducing huge nuclear strike means and special warfare troops into the Korean peninsula and areas around it.

Describing legitimate self-defensive measures taken by the DPRK to protect its dignity and security in the face of the U.S. undisguised nuclear threat and blackmail as "threat to international peace and security", the U.S. is imposing the despicable and vicious economic blockade and sanctions unprecedented in history.

The "sanctions resolutions" seeking total blockade of even those fields directly linked with the people's livelihood, to say nothing of the external economic activities of our State, are illegal documents quite contrary to the UN Charter and the idea of the IPU, and a barbarous and unethical state-sponsored terrorism aimed to check modern civilization and bring back the dark medieval age.

As it had already clarified, the DPRK will never put on a negotiating table its nuclear deterrence for self-defence, as long as the U.S. nuclear threat and hostile policy continue, but will give further spurs to building strength for defending its sovereignty and right to existence and ensuring regional peace and security by achieving substantial balance with the U.S.