North Korea has dismissed an International Atomic Energy Agency resolution criticising its nuclear weapons programme, insisting that its status as a nuclear power is “irreversible”.
The country’s Foreign Ministry said its position was protected by its nuclear deterrent, in a statement released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Saturday.
A ministry spokesperson said the resolution, which North Korea described as having been prepared by the United States and its Western allies, would not affect its position as a nuclear weapons state.
“Pitifully, the ‘resolution’ cooked up by the US and the West has no effect on the DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state,” the spokesperson said, using North Korea’s official name.
North Korea accuses IAEA of double standards
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, separately accused the UN nuclear watchdog of applying double standards.
She said the IAEA had ignored what she called “blatant nuclear proliferation activities” by the United States and South Korea’s “nuclear submarine introduction plan”, while adopting a resolution against North Korea’s “self-defensive and legitimate nuclear activities”.
“The biased viewpoint and double standards” of the agency were “the fundamental factor causing the collapse of the international nuclear non-proliferation system”, Kim Yo Jong said.
The Foreign Ministry accused hostile forces of attempting to end North Korea’s nuclear programme during this week’s general conference of the IAEA.
The state media also reported that Kim Jong Un had spent three days inspecting major munitions factories. Analysts said North Korea had been overhauling its military with Russian help since the two countries signed a mutual defence treaty in 2024, with combat experience gained by North Korean troops deployed to the war in Ukraine also aiding the effort.
At a training session for propaganda workers in Pyongyang on Friday, Kim Jong Un said modern “ideological warfare” needed to be innovative, creative and aggressive rather than rely on old methods.
Trump seeks renewed dialogue with Pyongyang
The dispute came as the United States and South Korea signalled an interest in improving relations with North Korea.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday that US President Donald Trump wanted dialogue with Pyongyang, and that Seoul would work to facilitate possible talks.
Trump said last month that he planned to meet Kim Jong Un later this year, seeking to revive the relationship formed during his first term. He said it was important to “get along” with the North Korean leader and that Pyongyang now had 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons.
