(2nd LD) North Korea blasts increase in U.S. defense budget

(ATTN: REPLACES quotes with N.K. English statement)
SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday criticized the U.S. government
for raising its military budget for 2010, claiming Pentagon's huge spending
prompts Pyongyang to bolster its own defense force.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently announced Washington will increase
its defense budget by 4 percent on-year to US$534 billion for the next fiscal
year that starts in October.
North Korea's estimated defense budget for 2009 is $540 million, according to
Seoul's Unification Ministry.
"The U.S. is in the hostile relationship with the DPRK (North Korea)," the Rodong
Sinmun, the North's major newspaper published by the Workers' Party, said in a
commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
"Not a small share of the U.S. defense spending is channeled into the moves to
threaten the DPRK militarily and invade it. It is, therefore, entirely just and
essential for the DPRK to continue bolstering up its capability for self-defense
to cope with the increasing U.S. military threat," the paper said.
The paper blamed the U.S. for magnifying the global arms race and said it has
"neither right nor justification to say this or that" to other countries'
military empowerment.
The U.S. is "the most irresponsible country" that spends money on arms buildup
rather than weather the global financial turmoil that originated there, the paper
said.
North Korea's state media said on April 9 that its defense budget approved by the
parliament for this year accounts for 15.8 percent of the government's entire
spending. The portion is the same as last year.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)