North Korea rejects the Quad call for denuclearisation
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North Korea on Thursday rejected the Quad nations’ call for its complete denuclearisation and said it would “never, ever” give up its nuclear weapons programme, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The response came after the foreign ministers of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, comprising India, Australia, Japan, and the United States, reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearisation of North Korea during a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Reacting to the joint statement, North Korea’s foreign ministry accused the Quad of interfering in the country’s sovereign affairs and described the grouping as “nothing but a political and diplomatic tool serving the realisation of US unipolar dominance.”
“We once again say there will never, ever be any denuclearisation of the DPRK,” a spokesperson for the ministry said, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Pyongyang also said it “flatly” rejected the “US-led” Quad’s “hostile stance” and urged the grouping to stop pursuing confrontation that it said undermines regional peace and stability.
In their joint statement, the Quad foreign ministers said they remained committed to the complete denuclearisation of North Korea in line with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. They also urged Pyongyang to comply with its obligations under the resolutions.
The statement condemned North Korea’s development of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction and expressed concern over cyber activities and IT operations used to fund its weapons programmes.
The ministers also raised concerns over countries deepening military cooperation with North Korea, saying such ties undermine the global non-proliferation regime. They further reaffirmed the need for the immediate resolution of the abduction issue.