North Korea Will Not Use Nuclear Arms Unless Threatened
MEP: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced that Pyongyang will not use nuclear weapons unless its sovereignty is infringed by others with nuclear arms.
“As a responsible nuclear weapons state, our republic will not use a nuclear weapon unless its sovereignty is encroached upon by any aggressive hostile forces with nukes,” the KCNA news agency quoted him as saying.
The state also said that its willing to seek to normalize relations with states “hostile” towards it.
He also noted that the North would “faithfully fulfill” its non-proliferation obligations and urge for further international denuclearization.
Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, reporting from the South Korean capital, Seoul, noted that Kim’s latest comments were different from defiant statements made in recent weeks and months.
Kim also set out a five-year plan to boost economic growth, emphasizing the need to improve North Korea’s electricity supply, the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.
He also called for talks with South Korea to alleviate tensions and misunderstanding between to two rivaling neighbors and warned the US to steer clear from inter-Korean matters.
North Korea’s leader, who has been the target of UN criticism for its relentless development of nuclear weapons over the past years, indicated that the country may abandon its war-mongering rhetoric, while promising that it “will faithfully fulfill its obligation for non-proliferation and strive for global denuclearization.”
