N. Korea's pledge not to use nuclear weapons unless threatened given cool response by China’s state-run media
Pyongyang needs to give up its nuclear weapons if it wants to normalise relations with outside world, says Global Times newspaper
Chinese state-run media on Monday played down North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s pledge not to use nuclear weapons unless his country’s sovereignty is threatened, saying that his pursuit of atomic arms remained dangerous.
Beijing is Pyongyang’s main diplomatic protector and source of trade and aid, but relations have become increasingly strained by the North’s nuclear ambitions and Kim has yet to visit his neighbour.
The North’s first ruling party congress in nearly 40 years formally endorsed Kim’s policy of expanding the country’s nuclear arsenal after he said it would not use the weapons unless attacked and would work for global denuclearisation.
Kim Jong-un says Pyongyang won’t use nuclear weapons first
The international community and the United Nations have long demanded an end to the North’s nuclear and missile programmes.
Kim’s declaration “was made from the perspective that North Korea is now a nuclear state”, China’s Global Times newspaper, which is close to the ruling Communist party, said in an editorial.
As such, it said, its “attitude has not changed and neither has its biggest contradiction with the outside world been resolved”.
“Major countries will not change their stance to recognise North Korea as a nuclear state,” it added. “As long as Pyongyang resists giving up its nuclear weapons, normalising relations with the outside world will be highly unlikely.”