GETTY Kim Jong-un's North Korea wants US President-elect Donald Trump to take a fresh approach to policy

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In its first statement since Mr Trump’s shock election victory on November, Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry said any previous nuclear provocations were in response to US acts of aggression. And in a nine-page memorandum, the hermit state said it was now urging Washington to "withdraw its nuclear threat”. North Korean officials said the US had chosen a hostile policy against Pyongyang after 2012 and the regime's missile and nuclear tests have been in retaliation to US “threats."

GETTY Kim Jong-un inspects a military fishery station

According to the statement, reported by Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency monitored in Seoul, North Korea said the US had aimed to "overthrow" its system after the death of its former leader Kim Jong-il. The statement read: “This fully reveals the true nature of the policy of strategic patience pursued by the Obama administration, which is none other than an aggressive and heinous strategic suffocation policy against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.” North Korea carried out nuclear tests in 2006, 2009, 2013 and twice this year, despite stern warnings from the international community. Experts said Pyongyang's latest statement is apparently aimed at Mr Trump, urging Washington to take a different approach toward North Korean issues, compared to President Barack Obama.

GETTY Kim Jong-un tours one of his country's collective farms

It was issued by Pyongyang after Mr Trump’s team and US Congressmen met a bipartisan delegation of South Korean MPs in the US capital. They said a future Trump administration could opt for a wide range of North Korea policies, from adopting tougher sanctions to initiating better dialogue with Kim Jong Un. Na Kyung-won, of the ruling Saenuri Party, said members of Mr Trump's team believed Mr Obama’s policy of "strategic patience" had reinforced North Korea's nuclear capabilities and had not succeeded.

GETTY Kim Jong-un visits an army cookhouse

Inside North Korea: Forbidden pictures of the secretive state Thu, September 22, 2016 A rare and forbidden view inside the world's most secretive state, North Korea. Play slideshow Eric Lafforgue / Barcroft Media 1 of 35 A giant mosaic created by 10,000 North Koreans holding cards at the May Day stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.