North Korea has told the United Nations that it will never negotiate the dismantling of its nuclear weapons unless the United States reverses its “hostile” policy towards it.
Speaking in the General Assembly ‘s First Committee, which deals with disarmament issues, North Korean Deputy UN Ambassador Kim In Ryong said his country supported the total elimination of nuclear weapons, but the situation on the Korean Peninsula, which had been created by the United States, had reached “the touch and go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment”.
“Unless the hostile policy and the nuclear threat of the U.S. is thoroughly eradicated, we will never put our nuclear weapons and ballistic rockets on the negotiation table under any circumstance,” he said in a debate on nuclear weapons.Kim’s comments come a day after UN Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that he would continue his diplomatic efforts vis-a-vis North Korea “until the first bomb drops.”
In an interview with CNN, Tillerson said that, despite Trump’s recent tweets which appeared to indicate he was uninterested in speaking with North Korea, the president wanted to avoid war and preferred diplomacy.
Following a series of missile launches and a sixth nuclear test, the North Korean envoy said Monday his country “had passed the final gate” toward becoming a full-fledged nuclear power, with the means to deliver a nuclear strike.
“The entire U.S. mainland is within our firing range and if the US dares to invade our sacred territory, even an inch, it will not escape our severe punishment in any part of the globe,” said the North Korean diplomat.
The United States and South Korea on Monday began a 10-day joint naval exercise in a fresh show of force against the North.
Kim, the North Korean envoy, said North Korea will not target any country that does not join a U.S.-led military campaign.
“As long as one does not take part in the US military actions against the DPRK, we have no intention to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any other country,” he said. (APP)
