Seoul, Oct 12 (IANS): North Korean Ambassador to the UN Kim Song on Wednesday lashed out at the US, arguing it is aggravating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Addressing a session of the first committee of the UN General Assembly held in New York, Kim urged the US to refrain from providing a nuclear umbrella and to suspend joint exercises with South Korea, reports Yonhap News Agency.

He claimed that the "stakes are running high" on the Korean Peninsula more than ever before due to the "dangerously growing hostility" and nuclear threat of Washington.

The envoy called on the US to take the lead in nuclear disarmament and to refrain from providing a nuclear umbrella or transferring nuclear technology.

Kim also took issue with the recent joint exercises between Washington and Seoul, including the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise in August and maritime exercises involving the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan last month.

He then defended the North's arms build-up as a basic right stipulated in the UN charter and a self-defensive means to counter the "heinous hostility of the US".

The comments came as the North has been sharply ratcheting up tensions on the peninsula in recent weeks, staging seven rounds of provocative ballistic missile launches over the past two weeks.

The North also said it staged large-scale air-attack drills on October 8, involving the simultaneous mobilization of around 150 warplanes "for the first time in history".