The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Friday that the country would keep strengthening nuclear deterrent as the US administration didn't change their hostile policy, according to the official KCNA news agency.

"The Obama administration for the past 100 days made it clear that the US hostile policy toward the DPRK remains unchanged," a Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying.

The spokesman also condemned the joint "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle" military exercises conducted by the United State and South Korea in March, which "seriously threatened the security of the DPRK."

The DPRK "would keep bolstering its nuclear deterrent as it had already clarified," the spokesman said.

The DPRK said it successfully launched an experimental satellite on April 5. But the United States said it was a missile test.

The UN Security Council on April 13 adopted a presidential statement condemning the April 5 launch and demanding the country "not conduct any further launch".

Pyongyang subsequently announced it was quitting the six-party nuclear disarmament talks, and said it may conduct nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests in self-defense.

(Xinhua News Agency May 8, 2009)