Hong Kong. April 21. INTERFAX - North Korean Foreign Minister Choi Song-hee said that North Korea's status as a global nuclear power is final and cannot be changed by Western countries.
"The DPRK's position as a global nuclear power is final and irreversible," she said in a statement published by KCNA.
"The USA and the West have no right to reason (...) about our status as the owner of nuclear weapons, and our status will not change in any way, no matter how hard they try," the Foreign Minister said.
The minister stressed that the DPRK possesses nuclear weapons "in order to consistently protect itself from the threat of the United States, and not in order to obtain someone's recognition."
According to Choi Song-hee, the United States will have to think about the fact that only "the radical and complete abolition of the hostile policy towards the DPRK will ensure their security."
"North Korea will continue to take actions based on all the legitimate rights granted to a sovereign state until all military threats emanating from the United States and related hostile forces are completely eliminated, and the hostile environment that hinders the independence and progress of the nation is essentially eliminated," - she added.
Thus, the head of the North Korean Foreign Ministry responded to the joint statement adopted by the G7 foreign ministers condemning the North's ballistic missile launches. In it, the ministers also stated that Pyongyang "cannot and will never" have the status of a nuclear-weapon State in accordance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
