North Korea is not bound by any treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday, as Pyongyang continues to reject international pressure and sanctions to dismantle its nuclear program.
Kim Song, North Korea’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said in a statement that the United States and some countries were “disorienting the atmosphere” at the 11th NPT Review Conference, held at UN headquarters, by raising the issue of , according to KCNA.
North Korea’s position as a state “does not change according to rhetorical statements or unilateral wishes of foreigners,” Kim said.
“I strongly denounce and reject the thuggish and shameful acts of specific countries, including the US, that question the DPRK’s realistic and fair access to nuclear weapons,” Kim said, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
North Korea ratified the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) in 1985, before finally declaring its withdrawal in 2003, amid a nuclear crisis that unfolded when the US confronted Pyongyang over its secret efforts to build nuclear weapons.
The legality of the withdrawal has been contested.
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held summits in 2018 and 2019 before negotiations over Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal collapsed.
Last year, Kim signaled openness to a new meeting with Trump if Washington dropped its demand that he renounce nuclear weapons.
North Korea has built nuclear facilities across the isolated country, and some analysts estimate it may have produced enough fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads.
