North Korea on Thursday dismissed the joint statement of the Quad nations calling for the “complete denuclearisation” of Pyongyang, asserting that it would “never” give up its nuclear weapons programme.
The Foreign Ministers of the Quad nations, consisting of India, Japan, Australia, and the United States, had issued a joint statement after a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The Quad said in the statement, “We reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearisation of North Korea in accordance with relevant UNSCRs and urge North Korea to abide by all its obligations under the relevant UNSCRs.”
The diplomatic group also called out North Korea’s “unlawful development of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction”, while expressing “grave concern” over Pyongyang’s cyber activities allegedly funding its weapons programmes.
The nations also urged all UN members to implement sanctions against North Korea, including restrictions on arms transfers and procurement.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency published a statement from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, accusing the Quad of interfering in its sovereign affairs and acting as “nothing but a political and diplomatic tool serving the realisation of U.S unipolar dominance”.
A spokesperson for the Foerign Ministry of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) said, “Explicitly speaking once again, the ‘denuclearisation’ of the DPRK will never happen forever.”
Pyongyang criticised the “U.S-led” Quad’s “hostile stance” and told the group to stop “the pursuit of confrontation that undermines regional peace and stability”.
An official of South Korea’s Unification Ministry explained that the DPRK considered the Quad as an attempt to form the “Asian version” of NATO and has been long against the grouping.
China had also criticised the group after Tuesday’s meeting, with Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning stating, “We do not support forming exclusive small groupings or bloc confrontation. Any cooperation should not undermine mutual trust and cooperation among regional countries.”
