North Korea has sharply criticised South Korea’s president following remarks calling for the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, framing them as hostile and provocative.
North Korea denounces South Korea’s president over denuclearisation remarks
North Korea has strongly criticised South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, accusing him of revealing his “true identity as a hypocrite” after Lee called for the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula during a recent visit to the United States.
In a commentary published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang condemned Lee’s foreign policy speech delivered on Monday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., where the South Korean leader reaffirmed the US-South Korea alliance and promised firm responses to provocations.
“He even insulted us by calling us ‘poor but fierce neighbours’ and then raised the absurd idea of ‘denuclearisation,’” KCNA said.
The North reiterated that it will never relinquish its nuclear weapons.
“Our position of never giving up nuclear weapons, which are central to our national prestige and security, remains absolutely unchangeable,” the agency added. It described North Korea’s nuclear status as an “inevitable choice” reflecting external “hostile threats” and the evolving global security landscape.
During his Washington visit, Lee proposed that US President Donald Trump meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year. Trump reportedly called the suggestion “a very wise proposal,” according to South Korean presidential spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung.
Trump previously met with Kim three times during his first term, including a historic encounter at the Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas.
