N. Korea sees missiles as deterrent - Russian MP Chepa
MOSCOW. Dec 1 (Interfax) - North Korea sees its missile launches as a deterrent, and it does not want to be the first to use missiles, Alexei Chepa, Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee and a member of the chamber's delegation to North Korea, said.
When asked by Interfax whether North Korea is ready to be the first to use missiles or whether it sees them as a deterrent, Chepa said: "It is a deterrent. It is nothing other than that."
"They call it a balance of power. That's certainly shorthand, but this is the factor which they think will ensure security in the region," Chepa told Interfax on Friday.
North Korean officials made clear during talks with the delegation that they do not want to be the first to use such weapons and see them as a deterrent, he said.
"As they put it, they proved their capabilities to the whole world today," Chepa said.