North Korea says its nuclear status needs no outside recognition

North Korea has said its status as a nuclear state does not require recognition from the US, Western countries or the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The statement was issued by a representative of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry and circulated by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

It said the country’s nuclear status was guaranteed by its nuclear deterrent and “irreversibly” enshrined in its supreme law.

The statement followed a resolution on North Korea adopted on September 17 at the IAEA General Conference. Pyongyang said the resolution called for the complete, verifiable and irreversible abandonment of its nuclear weapons and nuclear programmes.

North Korea said it had withdrawn from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the IAEA, and described the agency’s consideration of its nuclear status as illegitimate.

The Foreign Ministry also reaffirmed North Korea’s intention to continue implementing long-term plans to strengthen its nuclear deterrent, describing this as an unchanged element of its defence policy.

By Aghakazim Guliyev