PYONGYANG, June 9 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Monday it would not abandon nuclear deterrence if the United States maintains its troops on the Korean Peninsula at their current level.

    A spokesman for the Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People's Army (KPA) made the remarks in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency after Washington and Seoul agreed to maintain U.S. troops in South Korea at their current level.

    "Should the U.S. and the South Korean warlike forces persist in their moves for a war against the DPRK as now, the KPA will be left with no option but to further bolster all its war deterrents," the spokesman said.

    U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who visited Seoul last week, backed the agreement by U.S. President George W. Bush and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-Bak in April.

    Bush and Lee agreed to maintain U.S. troops at the current level of 28,500, citing military threats from the DPRK.

    "Under this situation the KPA cannot remain a passive onlooker to the above-said disturbing development, while abandoning its nuclear deterrence," the spokesman said in the statement.

    He also warned that such moves would undermine the six-party talks, DPRK-U.S. relations and inter-Korean relations.

    The DPRK statement came amid hopes for a breakthrough in the six-party talks, which have not been held since last September. U.S. senior nuclear envoy Sung Kim is set to arrive in Pyongyang late Monday for talks with DPRK officials and the six-party talks are also expected to resume in early July.