MANILA, Aug 7 — Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said Monday that his country will not give up its nuclear program despite pressure from several countries noting that it is only a legal option to defend their territory from possible aggression.
“We will, under no circumstances, put the nuke and ballistic rockets on negotiating table,” Ri said in a statement released to media.
The document released states that it is Ri’s statement at the 24th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial Meeting.
“Neither shall we flinch even an inch from the road to bolstering up the nuclear forces chosen by ourselves, unless the hostile policy and the nuclear threat of the U.S. against the DPRK are fundamentally eliminated,” he said.
Ri reitirated that North Korea’s nuclearization is a legal option for self-defense.
He claimed the United States is trying to globalize the nuke issue, making it a “global threat” wherein their threat is only directed to the U.S.
“The U.S. is trying to internationalize the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula by abusing UN (United Nations) while clamoring that DPRK’s possession of nuclear weapons is a “global threat”,” DPRK’s top diplomat said.
He said North Korea expects ASEAN and other member states of the ARF would distinguish the essence of its nuclearization — “a war deterrence to put an end to the nuclear threat of the U.S. and prevent military invasion of the U.S.”.
“Member states of the Forum should know correctly with distinction whether our possession of nukes and ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) poses a “global threat” as clamoured by the U.S. or a threat confined to the U.S. alone,” Ri said. (PNA)
