At UN, North Korea slams US for nuclear weapons; defends its own as sovereign right

The Permanent Mission of North Korea to the United Nations has criticized the U.S. for having nuclear weapons and urged it to stop “sharing nuclear” or “beefing up extended deterrence,” state media KCNA reported on Saturday.

While criticizing the U.S. over the AUKUS alliance and the Nuclear Consultative Group with South Korea, Pyongyang defended its nuclear weapons as an “exercise of sovereignty.”

“Signatories to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) should not take issue with the DPRK over its legitimate exercise of sovereignty, as it had legally withdrawn from the NPT 20 years ago,” the DPRK permanent mission to the UN Office and international organizations in Vienna was quoted as saying.

DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“Its nuclear force will never be a threat to those countries respecting its sovereignty and security interests,” the permanent mission said.