Some analysts estimate North Korea may have enough fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads. -AP
North Korea is not bound to any treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, state media KCNA reported, as Pyongyang continues to reject international pressure and sanctions to dismantle its nuclear program.
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Kim Song, North Korea's permanent representative to the United Nations, said in a statement that the US and some countries were "tarnishing the atmosphere" at the 11th NPT review conference being held at UN headquarters, bringing up the issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons, KCNA said.
The position of North Korea as a nuclear weapons state "does not change in accordance with rhetorical assertion or unilateral desire of outsiders," Kim said.
"I denounce and reject in the strongest tone the brigandish and shameless acts of the specific countries including the US which are taking issue with the DPRK's realistic and just access to nuclear weapons through the legal channels and exercise of its inherent defensive rights as a sovereign state," said Kim, using the acronym for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
North Korea ratified the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1985 before ultimately declaring its withdrawal in 2003 as a nuclear crisis unfolded when the US confronted Pyongyang about its covert efforts to build nuclear weapons. The legality of the withdrawal has been disputed.
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held summits in 2018 and 2019 before negotiations broke down over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons arsenal.
Kim last year signalled an openness to meeting Trump again if the US dropped its demands that he give up nuclear weapons.
North Korea has set up nuclear facilities across the isolated country, with some analysts estimating it may have produced enough fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads.
