Seoul: North Korea on Saturday denounced this week's annual security talks between South Korea and the United States as an "intentional" expression of the allies' "hostile" nature against it, vowing to take "more offensive" actions against enemy threats. According to Yonhap News Agency, North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang-chol stated that the North has "correctly" understood U.S. hostility toward Pyongyang. This statement follows the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) held in Seoul on Tuesday by the defense chiefs of South Korea and the U.S. to discuss key alliance and defense issues. No Kwang-chol accused the U.S. of "intentionally" escalating political and military tensions on the Korean Peninsula. He cited Washington's latest joint air drills with Seoul and the recent visit to South Korea by the USS George Washington, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, as evidence of this escalation. He further asserted that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will never avoid responding to the U.S.'s confrontational stance. The statement, carried by the Korean Central News Agency, emphasized that all threats to the North's security will be treated as "direct targets" and "managed in a necessary way." No promised that North Korea would display "more offensive action against the enemies' threat" under the principle of ensuring security and defending peace through powerful strength.