Time and again, North Korea has justified its behavior in response to the so-called U.S. “hostile policy.” Perceptions of an antagonistic external environment allow Pyongyang to vindicate its rhetorical and more visible provocations.

While North Korea is exasperated with the international community’s calls for denuclearization ad nauseam, the DPRK’s justifications of behavior under the broad banner of hostility has been no less unremitting.

Take the DPRK’s 5500-word statement to commemorate the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War for the latest example of how foreign hostile policy can justify Pyongyang