North Korea dismissed a UN atomic watchdog resolution that renewed demands to halt nuclear activities, saying it has “no effect” because Pyongyang is not an IAEA member, state media reported Saturday.
A foreign ministry statement on Friday accused “hostile forces” of seeking to bring an end to the country’s nuclear program during this week’s general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, state news agency KCNA said. “Pitifully, the ‘resolution’ cooked up by the US and the West has no effect on the DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said, referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, its official name. In the statement, the ministry spokesperson said the DPRK was positioned to “more offensively implement its strategic and long-term plans for building reliable self-defensive deterrent to cope with the ever-worsening international security environment. US President Donald Trump said in August that Pyongyang possesses 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, with Seoul putting the figure at between 80 and 120. In a separate statement on Thursday, Kim’s powerful sister said the country’s nuclear-armed status was “absolute”, and called those hoping for its denuclearisation “idiots”.
