MANILA (AP) - Reclusive North Korea called the U.S., Japan and South Korea Asia's biggest security threats and pledged to give up its nuclear weapons if they dismantle missiles aimed at it, according to a document seen Thursday.
North Korea painted a bleak picture of Asia's security in a defense paper it submitted for the first time to the ASEAN Regional Forum, but it welcomed six-way talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula as a crucial first step toward peace.
"The denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is in essence not the question of unilateral disbandment of the DPRK nuclear program only," said the report, seen by The Associated Press.
In said the denuclearization also depended on the removal "of more than one thousand nuclear weapons deployed in and around North Korea under the U.S. nuclear umbrella and termination of the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK and its nuclear threat as well."