KCNA news agency on May 7 said that North Korea declared that it is not bound by any treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, in the context that Pyongyang continues to reject pressure and international sanctions to force it to abandon its nuclear program.
According to KCNA, Mr. Kim Song, Permanent Representative of North Korea to the United Nations, made a statement at the 11th review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) held at the United Nations headquarters.
Mr. Kim Song said that the US and some countries are affecting the general atmosphere of the conference by raising the issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons. He affirmed that North Korea's status as a nuclear weapons possessing country "does not change according to slogan statements or unilateral wishes from outside".
The North Korean representative also condemned the actions of the US and some countries when criticizing North Korea's development of nuclear weapons.
North Korea approved the NPT in 1985, before declaring its withdrawal from the treaty in 2003 amid a crisis related to US allegations that Pyongyang secretly developed nuclear weapons. The legality of withdrawing from the NPT remains controversial to this day.
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held summits in 2018 and 2019, before negotiations broke down due to disagreements over Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal.
Last year, Mr. Kim Jong Un signaled his willingness to meet Mr. Trump again if the US abandons its request for North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons.
North Korea has now built nuclear facilities across the country. Some analysts estimate that Pyongyang may have produced enough fissile material to make up to 90 nuclear warheads.
