North Korea threatens to continue developing nuclear weapons if US sanctions not eased
- Pyongyang says it could bring back its pyongjin policy of simultaneously advancing its nuclear weapons and economic development if the US does not change its stance
North Korea has warned it could revive a state policy aimed at strengthening its nuclear arsenal if the United States does not lift economic sanctions against the country.
The statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Friday evening came amid a sense of unease between Washington and Seoul over the use of sanctions and pressure to get the North to relinquish its nuclear programme.
The ministry said North Korea could bring back its pyongjin policy of simultaneously advancing its nuclear capabilities and economic development if the United States does not change its stance.
The North came short of threatening to abandon the ongoing nuclear negotiations with the US. But it accused Washington of derailing commitments made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump at their June summit in Singapore to work toward a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, without describing how and when it would occur.
“The US thinks that its oft-repeated ‘sanctions and pressure’ lead to ‘denuclearisation.’ We cannot help laughing at such a foolish idea,” said the statement, released under the name of the director of the ministry’s Institute for American Studies. “The improvement of relations and sanctions are incompatible.”
Following a series of provocative nuclear and missile tests last year, Kim shifted to diplomacy when he met Trump between three summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who lobbied hard to revive nuclear diplomacy between Washington and Seoul.
