North Korea says denuclearization must start with US allies

North Korea this Saturday (11) condemned the United States and its allies for what it called the strengthening of military blocs and acceleration of the arms race after the NATO summit held this week.

Pyongyang accused NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) leaders of portraying the exercise of its legitimate sovereign rights as a threat, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.

According to the ministry, the alliance demonstrated an even greater commitment to confrontation between blocs by increasing military spending and deepening military cooperation with allies in the Asia-Pacific region.

At the NATO summit in Turkey on Tuesday, officials announced more than $50 billion in military and industrial procurement deals, as European allies remain under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to shoulder a greater share of the alliance's defense costs.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, a rival of Pyongyang, said on the sidelines of the summit that he hopes to expand Seoul's cooperation with NATO allies in research and development, including cutting-edge technologies, and the production of weapons systems.

North Korea said the summit demonstrated that NATO is an organization focused on war and confrontation, pursuing what Pyongyang classified as exclusive geopolitical interests to the detriment of peace and security in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Pyongyang, which says pressure from the West to give up its nuclear weapons has been irreversibly ended, is instead advocating that denuclearization efforts begin with attempts by South Korea and Japan to develop their own nuclear weapons under the protection of the United States, in addition to the nuclear ambitions of NATO members participating in the alliance's nuclear sharing agreements, the ministry said.

The statement added that North Korea will protect its sovereignty, security interests and regional peace through the responsible exercise of its sovereign rights.

On Friday, KCNA reported that North Korea has decided to take measures to strengthen its nuclear forces "quantitatively and qualitatively", while leader Kim Jong Un defends the modernization of the country's armed forces.

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Source: CNN