North Korea Declares at UN General Assembly After 7 Years: "We Will Never Give Up Nuclear Weapons"

Kim Sonkyong Delivers Speech at UN General Assembly
Lee Announces END Initiative, But North Korea Reaffirms Denuclearization Is Impossible
"We Will Not Retract Our Position Under Any Circumstances"

North Korea, resuming its speech at the United Nations General Assembly for the first time in seven years, made it clear that it will "never give up nuclear weapons and will not withdraw its position under any circumstances," reaffirming its stance against denuclearization.

Kim Sonkyong, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea, stated during the general debate of the 80th United Nations General Assembly held at the UN headquarters in New York on September 29 (local time), "Demanding denuclearization from us is the same as asking us to give up our sovereignty and right to survival and to violate our constitution," expressing this position.

He added, "Our war deterrence capability has been strengthened in direct proportion to the invasion threats from the United States and its allies," and as a result, "the willingness of hostile countries to provoke war has been thoroughly deterred, and the balance of power is being maintained in the Korean Peninsula region." He further emphasized, "We will never give up our sovereignty, never give up our right to survival, and never commit unconstitutional acts."

He also directly criticized military cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan. Vice Minister Kim argued, "The US-South Korea and US-Japan military alliances, as well as the US-Japan-South Korea trilateral military cooperation system, which are directly targeting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, are rapidly evolving into a more aggressive and invasive military bloc." He continued, "Until just a few days ago, the United States and its allied forces took nuclear attacks against our country as a given, conducted nuclear war drills, and heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula to an extreme degree."

These remarks from North Korea came immediately after President Lee Jaemyung publicly expressed his intention to improve inter-Korean relations. In his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, President Lee proposed the 'END (Exchange, Normalization, Denuclearization)' initiative, which aims for exchanges, normalization of relations, and ultimately denuclearization with North Korea.

Meanwhile, it is the first time in seven years since 2018 that a high-ranking North Korean official has delivered a speech at the high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly. North Korea previously sent then Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong in 2014 and 2015, and then Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho from 2016 to 2018, to deliver speeches at the UN General Assembly. However, after the so-called 'Hanoi No-Deal'-the breakdown of the second North Korea-United States summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam in February 2019 due to disagreements over denuclearization measures and sanctions relief-North Korea did not send a high-level delegation until last year.