(Dan Tri) – North Korea’s Foreign Minister declared that the country’s position as a global nuclear power is an irrefutable fact.
A North Korean missile launch (Photo: KCNA).
`The G7 has no authority or status over the exercise of North Korea’s sovereignty and national status. North Korea’s status as a global nuclear power is final and irreversible, and is a reality.`
Ms. Choe’s statement came after the foreign ministers of G7 member countries condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, saying that Pyongyang `cannot and will never` have the status of a world leader.
Ms. Choe warned that any move by G7 member countries to violate the sovereignty and basic interests of North Korea will be severely responded.
Ms. Choe also stated that North Korea’s status as a nuclear power is `not awarded or recognized`, but is regulated by law according to actual nuclear deterrence needs.
Last September, Pyongyang passed a new law declaring the country a nuclear state.
`We will never seek recognition or approval from anyone as long as we still have enough strength to counter America’s nuclear threats,` the North Korean foreign minister emphasized.
Regarding the NPT treaty, Ms. Choe said that North Korea `does not have any obligations in the treaty` when it legally withdrew from the treaty in 2003.
`North Korea will continue to act based on all legitimate rights granted to a sovereign nation, until all military threats posed by the United States and related hostile forces are eliminated.`
Previously, leader Kim Jong-un had declared that North Korea would never give up its nuclear weapons despite hundreds of years of sanctions.
When referring to the North Korean parliament passing a law allowing the use of nuclear weapons in case the country is attacked, North Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Kim Song affirmed that Pyongyang has no other choice but to
North Korea tested its first nuclear device in 2006 and tested a thermonuclear warhead in 2017, before declaring a unilateral halt to nuclear tests.