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| ▲ This undated image, provided by Yonhap New TV, shows North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) N Korea-nuclear
(LEAD) N. Korea says its status as nuclear weapons state 'final, irreversible'
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout, photo)
SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's foreign minister said Friday that the United States and the West have no right to argue about its status as a global nuclear weapons power, slamming a recent joint statement by the Group of Seven (G-7) diplomats as an interference in internal affairs.
In a statement, Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui took issue with the G-7 Foreign Ministers that condemned the North's unlawful ballistic missile launches and said Pyongyang "cannot and will never" have the status of a nuclear weapons state under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
"The G-7 has no authority or qualification for the exercise of sovereignty and national status of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," she said in the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
She stressed that North Korea's status as a global nuclear power is "final and irreversible," and will remain an "undeniable" fact for thousands of years even if Washington does not recognize it.
Choe then warned that any move by G-7 members to infringe on the North's sovereignty and fundamental interests will be met with a stern response.
She also claimed that the North's status as a nuclear power was "not given or recognized" but dictated by law according to the need for actual nuclear deterrence. In September last year, Pyongyang passed a new law declaring itself a nuclear weapons state.
"We will never seek recognition or approval from anyone as long as we have the power to counter U.S. nuclear threats," she added.
On the NPT, she argued North Korea is "free from any treaty obligations" as it legally withdrew from the treaty in 2003.
"North Korea will continue to take action based on all legal rights granted to a sovereign state until all military threats posed by the U.S. and related hostile forces are completely eliminated and the hostile environment that hinders the nation's independence and advancement is essentially removed," she added.
NK says its status as nuclear weapons state 'final, irreversible'[https://youtu.be/UuQCzEm951M]
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