North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, criticised the US Trump administration for stepping up "provocations" and said it justified the nuclear state increasing its nuclear deterrent, state media KCNA said on Tuesday.
Kim criticised the US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson's visit to South Korea on Sunday, saying the action was part of a "policy of confrontation" against North Korea.
"As soon as its new administration appeared this year, the US has stepped up the political and military provocations against the DPRK, 'carrying forward' the former administration's hostile policy," Kim said.
DPRK is short for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Hostile policy toward the DPRK pursued by the US at present is offering sufficient justification for the DPRK to indefinitely bolster ... its nuclear war deterrent," Kim added.
South Korea's navy said on Sunday the US aircraft carrier arrived at the southern port city of Busan in South Korea as a show of force against North Korea.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler)