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North Korea rejected a resolution by the U.N. nuclear watchdog calling for an end to its nuclear activities, saying the measure has “no effect” and insisting that its status as a nuclear weapons state is permanent, state media KCNA reported Saturday.
A North Korean Foreign Ministry statement issued Friday accused what it called “hostile forces” of seeking to end Pyongyang’s nuclear program during this week’s general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA.
“Pitifully, the ‘resolution’ cooked up by the U.S. and the West has no effect on the DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state,” a ministry spokesperson said, using North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The spokesperson said North Korea had long ceased to be a member of both the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, and the IAEA, arguing that criticism of its nuclear program was therefore illegitimate.
“The DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state does not need the recognition of the U.S., the West and the IAEA,” the spokesperson said, adding that its status was backed by its nuclear deterrent and enshrined in state law.
North Korea has legally established its status as a nuclear weapons state, with its leadership describing the country’s nuclear arsenal as permanent and irreversible.
The ministry said Pyongyang would move “more offensively” to carry out long-term plans to strengthen what it calls its self-defense deterrent in response to a worsening international security environment.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in August that North Korea possessed 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, while South Korea estimates the number at between 80 and 120.
Trump has also expressed willingness to resume dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and said last month that he planned to meet him later this year.
In a separate statement Thursday, Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong described North Korea’s nuclear-armed status as “absolute” and called those seeking the country’s denuclearization “idiots.”
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