Overview
- Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong told the U.N. General Assembly on Monday that North Korea’s status as a nuclear weapons state is permanent and cannot be reversed under any circumstances.
- Hours earlier the Foreign Ministry issued a KCNA memorandum that accused the United States of driving a crisis in the non‑proliferation order by pursuing 'vertical' modernization of its forces and 'horizontal' nuclear sharing with allies.
- In his speech Kim framed the country’s nuclear deterrent as an 'absolute' force to defend sovereignty and security and singled out U.S.-South Korea-Japan cooperation and U.S. approval for South Korean nuclear-powered submarines as destabilizing.
- Observers said the U.N. remarks were relatively measured and contained no new threats, but they followed two short-range ballistic missile launches days earlier and reinforced Pyongyang’s strategic signaling.
- Analysts warn the statements deepen the diplomatic deadlock over denuclearization, raise the risk of an arms-race dynamic in the region, and leave civilians exposed to greater political and military uncertainty.