N.K. slams Biden’s defense budget proposal as ‘arms buildup frenzy’

SEOUL– North Korea on Tuesday denounced U.S. President Joe Biden’s proposed defense budget increase for the fiscal 2023, casting it as a “frenzy” for a further arms buildup.

“The intention of the United States, which is pouring a record amount of funds in armaments, is not to ensure their own security, but to strengthen its hegemony and aggression and pressure on sovereign nations,” the North’s foreign ministry said, citing a commentary from Chinese media.

“No country can realize its absolute security while destabilizing other countries, and if the U.S. does not abandon its illusion about hegemony, its vast military budget will run out,” it said.

Late last month, the Joe Biden administration submitted the US$813.3 billion budget plan for the fiscal 2023 defense spending to Congress, citing the growing competition with China and threats from North Korea.

For the Pentagon, it requested $733 billion, about 4.1 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.

Regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pyongyang accused Washington of fueling the crisis so as to help its defense companies rake in heaps of profit.

“The U.S. and the Merchants of the Death in the West have been showered with the ‘rains of gold’ due to the drastic increase in global military spending on the occasion of the Ukraine crisis,” it said.

The ministry also criticized the U.S.-led security initiatives — AUKUS and Quad — and intelligence-sharing grouping, the Five Eyes, which involve its key allies, like Australia, Britain and Japan, as channels to expand its military power.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

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