The Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea, Choe Son Hui, reiterated this Thursday that the country will not give up its nuclear capability and will permanently maintain its atomic arsenal, again rejecting the denuclearization goal promoted by the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
In statements released by the state agency KCNA, the head of North Korean diplomacy accused these three powers of holding a confrontational policy against Pyongyang and interpreted that their insistence on demanding the abandonment of nuclear weapons shows that they have not changed their stance at all.
Choe's statements come after a trilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in which representatives from the United States, Japan, and South Korea issued a joint statement reiterating their commitment to the denuclearization of North Korea, in compliance with the resolutions of the Security Council.
For the North Korean minister, this statement highlights that Washington and its allies continue to pursue a goal that Pyongyang considers unachievable. Although the tone or language used may change, she warned, the goal of achieving the denuclearization of North Korea remains the same.
An "UNCHANGING, FOREVER" Position
Choe pointed out that the inclusion of the North Korean nuclear issue in this week's trilateral meeting is not a surprise for her government, understanding that the United States, Japan, and South Korea have elevated hostility towards North Korea to the level of state policy. "It would have been surprising and questionable if it had not been mentioned," she sarcastically noted.
The Foreign Affairs official also took the opportunity to reaffirm unequivocally the nuclear doctrine of the regime. "The DPRK (North Korea) maintains unchanged its will to keep nuclear weapons forever," she stated.
According to Choe, the possession of nuclear weapons is an irreversible matter for North Korea and is not open to review, while she defended that the country will preserve these capabilities for the next generations, without external pressures being able to force a renunciation.
In this sense, she has insisted that the pressure strategy exerted against Pyongyang has not modified the position of the North Korean authorities and has assured that no external actor will be able to force her government to abandon what it considers an essential pillar of its sovereignty and vital interests.
Therefore, the minister has also ruled out any formula that combines pressure and dialogue, considering that this approach is unacceptable for North Korea.
Furthermore, she has warned that an increase in international pressure for the country to abandon its nuclear weapons will only serve, in her opinion, to reinforce Pyongyang's determination to maintain and expand its arsenal, as well as to harden its position against Washington and the countries it considers enemies.
"Firm is our conviction and our stance that nuclear weapons are the fundamental component of national sovereignty and the most reliable guarantee for the defense of sovereign rights that no one can violate. And the louder the US and its allies shout in favor of 'denuclearization', the more the validity of our state's just access to nuclear weapons will be demonstrated and its reinforcement will be justified, as well as the hardening of our stance against the US and the enemies," she concluded.