North Korea is pledging to boost its defenses following President Trump’s decision to strike a Syrian airfield, calling the move “absolutely unpardonable.”
A North Korean foreign ministry official said the missile strikes proved its own nuclear weapons program is justified, according to the Associated Press, which reports from North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency.
"We will bolster up in every way our capability for self-defense to cope with the U.S. evermore reckless moves for a war and defend ourselves with our own force,” the official said, according to the report.
"Some forces are loud-mouthed that the recent U.S. military attack on Syria is an action of warning us but we are not frightened by it," the official continued.
The missile attack came as Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his private estate in Florida, where Trump reportedly planned to urge the leader to take a tougher stance on North Korea.
North Korea has already conducted a number of weapons tests this year, including firing a ballistic missile into the waters off the Korean Peninsula last week, ahead of Trump’s meeting with Xi.