Kim Song was referring to the 11th Review Conference on the NPT, which is currently underway at the UN headquarters in New York. He said that “the US and some of its vassals are spoiling the atmosphere of the conference” by raising the issue of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.
North Korea “lawfully withdrew from the NPT” decades ago and possessing nuclear weapons is part of its “inherent defense rights as a sovereign state,” the diplomat said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.
“North Korea is not bound”
“To clarify once again, the DPRK is in no way bound by the NPT,” Kim stressed. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, warned in April during a visit to Seoul that North Korea had achieved a “significant increase” in its ability to produce nuclear weapons.
DPRK leader Kim Jong Un describes his country as a “nuclear state.” In January, he announced further strengthening of the nuclear potential
