North Korea has dismissed a recent resolution from the United Nations atomic watchdog, which called for the cessation of its nuclear activities. State media reported on Saturday that Pyongyang views the resolution as having “no effect” due to its non-membership in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This stance reflects North Korea’s ongoing defiance against international nuclear oversight efforts.
A foreign ministry statement on Friday accused “hostile forces” of seeking to bring an end to the country’s nuclear program during this week’s general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, state news agency KCNA said. “Pitifully, the ‘resolution’ cooked up by the US and the West has no effect on the DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said, referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, its official name. In the statement, the ministry spokesperson said the DPRK was positioned to “more offensively implement its strategic and long-term plans for building reliable self-defensive deterrent to cope with the ever-worsening international security environment. US President Donald Trump said in August that Pyongyang possesses 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, with Seoul putting the figure at between 80 and 120. In a separate statement on Thursday, Kim’s powerful sister said the country’s nuclear-armed status was “absolute”, and called those hoping for its denuclearisation “idiots”.
“The DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state does not need the recognition of the US, the West and the IAEA. It is guaranteed by the actual nuclear deterrent and irreversibly and permanently fixed by the supreme law of the state.
