North Korea has criticized a joint statement by foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries calling for the abandonment of nuclear weapons. Official Pyongyang, on the other hand, has stated its intention only to strengthen its nuclear capabilities.
Points of attention
- North Korea defiantly rejects the G7's call to abandon nuclear weapons and vows to enhance its nuclear capabilities.
- The DPRK considers the G7 as a threat to world peace and asserts its sovereign rights to maintain and strengthen its nuclear armed forces.
- International tensions rise as North Korea's defiance contrasts with the G7's demands for denuclearization and condemnation of military support to Russia.
North Korea is strengthening its nuclear capabilities
Thus, on March 17, the DPRK responded to a joint statement by senior diplomats of developed economies after a meeting in La Malbaie (Canada) last Friday, where the foreign ministers of the G7 countries called on North Korea to denuclearize and condemned Russia's military assistance to support the war against Ukraine.
What exactly was stated in the G7 statement:
6. We condemned the provision of military assistance to Russia by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Iran, as well as the supply of dual-use components by China, which has played a crucial role in Russia's war and in the rebuilding of its armed forces. We reaffirmed our intention to continue to take measures against these third countries...
17. We demand that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) abandon all its nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction, as well as its ballistic missile programs, in accordance with all relevant UN Security Council resolutions...
The North Korean Foreign Ministry claims that the country is exercising its "sovereign rights."
The North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) also cited a statement from the country's foreign ministry claiming that it was the G7 that was supposedly focusing on "illegal and malicious proliferation of nuclear weapons" under the pretext of exchanging nuclear weapons or ensuring expanded deterrence.
The G7, which has turned into a nuclear criminal group that seriously threatens global peace and security, must completely abandon its anachronistic ambitions for nuclear hegemony before talking about anyone's "denuclearization" and "dismantling of nuclear weapons."
North Korea also declared its intention to "constantly upgrade and strengthen its nuclear armed forces both qualitatively and quantitatively in response to the nuclear threat from outside, as stipulated in its constitution and other domestic laws."
Earlier, Western media released satellite images showing that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had disguised a new missile launch complex as a golf course.
