North Korea has condemned the G7 (Group of Seven) foreign ministers' demand for denuclearization as a "political provocation," stating that "the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) will continuously renew and strengthen its nuclear forces qualitatively and quantitatively in response to external nuclear threats, in accordance with its constitution and other domestic laws."
On the 17th, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, made this statement through a Foreign Ministry spokesperson's statement titled "The G7, a U.S.-led nuclear criminal group, must thoroughly abandon their outdated nuclear hegemony ambitions."
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson added, "We express serious concern over the G7 member countries, the main culprits destroying world peace, security, and the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, who shamelessly criticize the just war deterrent power held by sovereign states, and we will never tolerate any infringement on our country's sovereignty and internal affairs." The spokesperson further criticized, "The countries that use nuclear weapons as the primary means to achieve aggressive and hegemonic political and military objectives are also G7 member countries," and "The countries feverishly engaging in illegal and malicious nuclear proliferation under the pretext of nuclear sharing and extended deterrence are none other than the G7 member countries."
They continued, "The G7, composed of the United States and its allied followers, is indeed the source of the occurrence and worsening of the international nuclear crisis," emphasizing that "'complete and irreversible denuclearization' must start with the G7." North Korea also referred to itself as a "responsible nuclear-armed state" and claimed it would continue to safeguard world peace and security.
On the 14th (local time), the G7 foreign ministers issued a joint statement condemning North Korea and Iran for their military support of Russia's war. In particular, they urged North Korea to "abandon all nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, and ballistic missile programs."
Meanwhile, on the 13th (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump caused a stir by once again referring to North Korea as a "nuclear power" during a conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House in Washington.
Regarding this, a Foreign Ministry official said, "It is not appropriate to comment on the remarks of another country's leader," but added, "President Trump secured a commitment to complete denuclearization from North Korea through the 2018 Singapore summit, and the second administration has consistently expressed North Korea's willingness for complete denuclearization through joint statements." The official also stated, "Our government will actively pursue diplomatic efforts for North Korea's complete denuclearization based on Korea-U.S. and Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation."
Furthermore, the official said, "Since the government has consistently expressed its openness to dialogue with North Korea for the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, we hope North Korea will stop provocations and threats and respond to the proposals from South Korea and the U.S. by coming to the dialogue table."
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