North Korea’s Permanent Mission to UN defends Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons as sovereign right

FILE PHOTO: North Korea’s Ambassador to the United Nations Kim Song speaks during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly after China and Russia vetoed new sanctions on North Korea in the United Nations Security Council, at the UN Headquarters in New York City, New York, United States, on, June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

SEOUL — The Permanent Mission of North Korea to the United Nations has criticized the United States for having nuclear weapons and urged it to stop “sharing nuclear” or “beefing up extended deterrence,” state media KCNA reported Saturday.

While criticizing the US over the AUKUS alliance and the Nuclear Consultative Group with South Korea, Pyongyang defended its nuclear weapons as an “exercise of sovereignty.”

“Signatories to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) should not take issue with the DPRK over its legitimate exercise of sovereignty, as it had legally withdrawn from the NPT 20 years ago,” the DPRK permanent mission to the UN Office and international organizations in Vienna was quoted as saying.

READ: South Korea, US to share nuclear planning to deter North Korean threat

DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“Its nuclear force will never be a threat to those countries respecting its sovereignty and security interests,” the permanent mission said.

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