A North Korean diplomat said on Friday that Pyongyang intended to continue its nuclear testing programme in the interests of self-defence and accused U.S. President Donald Trump of playing “nuclear football,” the RIA news agency reported. 

The diplomat, who RIA named as a member of the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s U.S. Studies Department called Nam Hyok-Tsen, was cited as telling a non-proliferation conference in Moscow:

“The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is constantly being convinced that developing nuclear weapons is the right choice. And we are strengthening our intention to conduct tests in order to offset the nuclear threat from the U.S.”

RIA also quoted him as telling the same event that Trump had “thousands” of nuclear weapons at his disposal and that the U.S. leader was playing “nuclear football.”