North Korea stated on Thursday that its future nuclear weapons development is dependent on the “attitude” of the U.S.

“It depends on the attitude of the United States and the U.S. is hell-bent on increased level of provocations in front of the door of the DPRK,” North Korean official Ri Tong-il said using the acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Ri expressed his country’s concerns at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“Nobody will feel safe if somebody comes up with massive, more sophisticated nuclear weapons. Nobody will be safe and DPRK has no other option but to have self-defensive means to safeguard sovereignty, national dignity and to protect our people from nuclear disaster,” he stressed.

The North tested nuclear weapons in 2006, 2009 and 2013 and claims that it’s latest step will take “high precision miniaturized nuclear forces to operative level.”

The country is also simultaneously developing rocket technology and recently tested a ballistic missiles that is supposedly capable of reaching the U.S.-mainland.