Photo : YONHAP News
North Korea has reiterated its commitment to maintaining its nuclear program and arsenal.
In a statement carried by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui declared that the regime will firmly pursue its nuclear weapons ambitions, asserting that this resolve will remain unchanged “for a hundred or a thousand years.”
Choe slammed the joint statement issued on Monday by the foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan, which reaffirmed their dedication to the “complete denuclearization” of North Korea.
She criticized what she described as the “anachronistic confrontational nature” of the three nations and their “unrealistic goal” of denuclearizing the North.
While Choe’s remarks targeted the three countries’ joint statement, observers noted that it followed President Lee Jae Myung’s announcement of a vision for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
In a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, President Lee said Seoul aims to halt the advancement of Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile capabilities, then reduce them in the medium term, ultimately seeking to achieve a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula in the long term.