Nuclear-Armed State Status Permanently Enshrined, Irreversible: North Korea
North Korea said its status as a nuclear-armed state is "permanently enshrined" in its law and "irreversible", state media reported Monday, condemning the United States for demanding its denuclearisation.
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North Korea terminated its membership with the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1994.
South Korea:
According to state media reports on Monday, North Korea has declared that its position as a nuclear-armed nation is "permanently enshrined" in its legislation and "irreversible," while criticizing the United States for its demands for denuclearization.
"The US recently engaged in serious political provocation at an International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors meeting by labeling our nuclear weapons possession illegal and loudly calling for denuclearization," stated North Korea's UN mission in an announcement published by the official Korean Central News Agency.
The statement emphasized that North Korea's "status as a nuclear-armed state, permanently codified in the country's supreme and fundamental law, has become irreversible," noting that the nation has not maintained "official relations" with the nuclear monitoring agency for over three decades.
It further argued that the IAEA has "neither the legal authority nor the moral justification to intervene in the domestic affairs of a nuclear-armed state operating outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty".
North Korea withdrew from the IAEA in 1994 following a dispute over nuclear inspections, claiming that Washington was using the agency to violate its sovereignty.
The statement added that Pyongyang will "firmly oppose and reject any attempt to change the current status of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and, as a responsible nuclear-armed state," using North Korea's official designation.
This announcement follows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's recent tour of weapons research facilities, where he stated that Pyongyang "would implement a policy of simultaneously advancing nuclear forces and conventional armed forces development."
Since the unsuccessful 2019 summit with the United States regarding denuclearization, North Korea has consistently maintained that it will never surrender its nuclear arsenal.