N. Korea rejects Korean Peninsula denuclearization as unrealistic goal
(MENAFN) North Korea has dismissed the idea of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, calling it an impossible objective. The statement comes after South Korea requested China’s assistance earlier this week in addressing the nuclear issue.
In a statement carried by a Korean news agency on Friday, DPRK Deputy Foreign Minister Pak Myong Ho said Pyongyang would “show with patience that denuclearization is a ‘pipedream’ which can never be realized even if [South Korea] talks about it a thousand times.” He also criticized Seoul’s repeated denials of North Korea’s nuclear status as a “lack of common sense.”
Earlier in the week, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked Beijing to play a “constructive role” in fostering peace and achieving a “substantive solution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.” On the sidelines of the APEC summit, Lee met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, discussing ways to improve bilateral relations and urging China to help restart talks with North Korea. Lee also expressed support for renewed dialogue between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Trump said this week that he would “love to see” Kim and hinted he might use US sanctions as leverage if talks resume. During his first term, Trump became the first sitting US president to meet a North Korean leader, holding three summits with Kim from 2018 to 2019 to discuss denuclearization in exchange for economic and security guarantees, though no deal was reached.
While a Trump-Kim meeting did not occur during Trump’s recent Asia tour, Kim indicated openness to the idea, noting he still has a “good memory” of Trump, but described US demands for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons as “absurd.”
Pyongyang has emphasized that its nuclear forces will “exist forever” to safeguard its “sovereignty, territorial integrity and fundamental interests.” The country has also accused the US of provoking instability and attempting to create an “Asian version of NATO” through its military cooperation with Japan and South Korea.
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