By Hyunsu Yim
SEOUL (Reuters) -North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;will increase its military deterrent to ensure its security against a&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;arsenal aimed at it, its state&nbsp;media&nbsp;reported on Friday, as it criticised the United States for a recent intercontinental ballistic&nbsp;missile&nbsp;(ICBM)&nbsp;test.
The&nbsp;U.S. Air&nbsp;Force&nbsp;launched a&nbsp;nuclear-capable Minuteman III&nbsp;missile&nbsp;from a base in California on Wednesday but the&nbsp;missile&nbsp;was blown up&nbsp;after&nbsp;an anomaly was detected. The&nbsp;test&nbsp;was attended by South&nbsp;Korean defence officials in their first such visit since 2016.
A&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean military commentator said despite the failure of the&nbsp;test, the presence of South&nbsp;Korean "puppet military gangsters" showed that&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;weapons were targeted at&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea.
"The DPRK will as ever continue its military action to bolster up the deterrence and ensure the strategic security in the&nbsp;Korean peninsula and the region," the unidentified commentator said in a report carried by the KCNA state news agency, referring to the country by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of&nbsp;Korea.
The commentary also criticised the&nbsp;U.S. and South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;for various recent military steps including the deployment of&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;strategic bombers to South&nbsp;Korea.
"The&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;threat by the&nbsp;U.S. and its vassal&nbsp;forces to the DPRK nears a new red line," the&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean commentator said, calling for the strengthening of "self-defensive&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;armed&nbsp;forces".
South&nbsp;Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the commentary raised the question of whether&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;was preparing to justify another military "provocation".
"It is clear that the current heightened tensions on the&nbsp;Korean peninsula resulted from&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's futile&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;development and reckless military provocations," deputy ministry spokesperson Kim In-ae told a briefing.
South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;held a joint exercise with the&nbsp;U.S. and Japan near the&nbsp;Korean peninsula last month, involving a&nbsp;U.S. B-52 strategic bomber as well as fighter jets of the three nations.
The&nbsp;U.S. and South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;also held air exercises involving 130 warplanes from both countries to simulate 24-hour wartime operations last month.
South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;and the United States say their exercises are aimed at maintaining combat readiness to respond to&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea.
North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;denounces the exercises as preparations by the United States and its South&nbsp;Korean ally to invade it.
(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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