SEOUL, South Korea, June 14: North Korea on Sunday declared that denuclearization is an “irreversibly finalized” matter, criticizing recent South Korea-U.S. and U.S.-Japan discussions that reaffirmed the goal of eliminating Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, according to Yonhap News Agency.
An unnamed spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued the criticism after South Korea and the United States reiterated their shared objective of North Korea’s denuclearization during a bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group meeting on Thursday.
“It is unreasonable and a fantastic daydream to talk about disarming the other belligerent party’s nuclear weapons,” the spokesperson said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The spokesperson further asserted that North Korea’s status as a nuclear-armed state cannot be altered by external pressure.
“The U.S. and its vassal forces’ meaningless rhetoric against the DPRK and cooperation in posing a nuclear threat to it can never affect the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state,” the spokesperson said. “The denuclearization issue is an irreversibly finalized matter.”
DPRK refers to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The statement also criticized the recent U.S.-Japan Extended Deterrence Dialogue, during which Washington and Tokyo reaffirmed their commitment to the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea.
“No matter how hard the U.S., Japan, and the ROK may quibble, they will never change the present position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state,” the spokesperson said, using the acronym for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea, according to Yonhap.
Earlier this month, North Korea and China reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties as the two countries marked the 65th anniversary of their Treaty of Friendship and sought to expand cooperation in the economy, infrastructure, and military and diplomatic relations, according to China Daily.
The newspaper reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening ties with North Korea during a two-day visit to Pyongyang, his first trip to the country in seven years.
During talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Xi expressed readiness to work closely with Pyongyang to strengthen top-level strategic coordination and deepen bilateral relations in what he described as a “new era” of ties between the two nations.
Xi said China remains committed to preserving the traditional friendship between the Communist Party of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, regardless of changes in the international landscape.
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