▲ President Lee Jae Myung delivers a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Aug. 25, 2025. (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) Lee-N Korea

(2nd LD) N. Korea slams Lee as hypocrite with 'denuclearization paranoia'

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout; RECASTS headline, lead para)

By Kim Soo-yeon

SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Wednesday denounced President Lee Jae Myung's remarks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula made during his visit to the United States, saying he is a hypocrite seized by a "denuclearization paranoia."

The North's criticism came after Lee said during a speech in Washington that he and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed during their summit Monday (local time) to work closely to "establish peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula."

North Korea denounced South Korea for harboring a vain hope for denuclearization, stressing the North will never give up its nuclear weapons.

"It is a daydream for the ROK, the one and only political poor in the world who has offered all its sovereignty to the U.S., to cherish an absurd hope for 'denuclearization,' unaware of the nature of the nuclear issue of the DPRK," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The ROK is the acronym of South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea, and the DPRK stands for the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"Lee Jae Myung should understand that if he continues to be engrossed in a wild dream about 'denuclearization' like a 'familial disease,' it will not be helpful to anyone, to say nothing of the ROK," the KCNA said.

North Korea defended the possession of nuclear weapons, claiming the North becoming a "nuclear weapons state" has been an inevitable choice to deter threats from its enemies and adapt to a change in the global security dynamics.

"We remain unchanged in our stand not to abandon the nuclear weapons, the prestige and the honor of the state," the North said.

North Korea also called South Korea a "dyed-in-the-wool" hostile state that set the policy of confrontation against the North as its state policy, claiming the Lee administration is not an exception.

"Lee Jae Myung did not hide his real intention and revealed his true colors as a confrontation maniac," the KCNA said, saying that Lee has pretended to have a will to restore ties with North Korea.

In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Monday, Lee said his country will comply with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime and strictly keep its commitment to denuclearization.

Calling the North a "poor but fierce neighbor," Lee said imposing sanctions alone cannot resolve Pyongyang's nuclear issues, underscoring the need to seek dialogue with it.

Before heading to the U.S. for the summit with Trump, Lee said in an interview with Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun that he will pursue a three-stage denuclearization plan for North Korea, starting from a freeze on the North's nuclear and missile programs in the first stage.

Since taking office in June, Lee has vowed to mend frayed ties with North Korea and seek to resume inter-Korean dialogue. But Pyongyang has rebuffed Lee's peace overtures, saying it has no will to improve relations with Seoul.

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