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A North Korean walks through an underpass at a newly constructed development project in the Mansu Hill area of Pyongyang, North Korea on Saturday, June 16, 2012.
PYONGYANG, North Korea—North Korea is criticizing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for what it calls her "reckless" criticism of its human rights record.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Sunday that the North's arms industry now has the capacity to "steadily boost its nuclear deterrent" and will do so as long as Washington maintains a hostile policy.

Clinton said Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un must improve life for what she called his oppressed people or face a backlash.

Animosity is high after a North Korean rocket launch in April that Washington and Seoul called a cover for a test of banned long-range missile technology. North Korea says it planned to put a satellite into orbit.