PYONGYANG, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) condemned the "unilateral coercive act" of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, known as the Quad, comprising the United States, Japan, India, and Australia, the official Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday.

"We will never tolerate the attempt of the U.S. and its vassal forces to unilaterally change the position of the DPRK and the current situation on the Korean Peninsula," the report cited a press statement issued by the DPRK Foreign Ministry a day earlier.

"Nothing can change the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state ... The U.S. attempt to deny the present position of the DPRK is not only the gravest violation of sovereignty but also a dangerous act of escalating tension which creates instability in the region and escalates the tension," the statement said.

The U.S. hegemonic act -- interfering in the internal affairs of independent sovereign states, stirring up confrontation and creating instability in international relations by relying on exclusive groups such as the Quad -- is the major risk factor hindering peace and security in the region and the world, the statement added.

It is within the DPRK's sovereignty to take appropriate and reflective countermeasures of a self-defensive nature against such provocative military actions, as the United States moves to strengthen the multilateral military alliance threatening the security of the region and conduct joint military drills with a clear aggressive character, it said.

During the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting held Tuesday in Washington, D.C., a joint statement was issued, reaffirming the commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. ■