North Korea Condemns NATO Summit, Says Denuclearisation Should Start With US Allies

North Korea condemned the NATO summit in Ankara and said denuclearisation should begin with the United States and its allies on Saturday, rejecting what it called "provocative" military cooperation by Washington in the Asia-Pacific region.

In a statement carried by state media, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the alliance's military expansion and its growing ties with South Korea and Japan were "a grave threat to peace and stability" on the Korean peninsula. The spokesperson said Pyongyang would continue to safeguard its sovereignty through its nuclear deterrent.

The condemnation came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un earlier this month vowed to accelerate his country's military buildup, citing what he described as US and South Korean moves pushing the region "to the brink of a nuclear war."

Addressing a meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kim said the "US and the ROK are pushing forward with the ROK's possession of a nuclear submarine while getting evermore undisguised in their moves towards the reinforcement and modernisation of armed forces in the region," referring to South Korea by the acronym of its official name. According to the KCNA, Kim said such moves were "pushing the situation in the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war."

Nuclear Status and Regional Tensions

North Korea has repeatedly declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state since a 2019 summit between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed over the scope of denuclearisation and sanctions relief. Kim's powerful sister, Yo Jong, said earlier this month the North's nuclear policy was a "line of no retreat," reiterating the regime's position that it has no intention of giving up its nuclear arsenal.

The Workers' Party meeting "unanimously recognised that to steadily expand and strengthen the nuclear forces... is the most correct and unique way to actively and confidently cope with the unpredictable international military and political situation," KCNA said. It added that the North's development of a war deterrent "with nuclear technology as a basis" would proceed "at increasing speed."

Analyst Hong Min at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification told AFP that the wording "effectively shuts down any room for denuclearisation talks and treats the irreversibility of its nuclear status as a fait accompli." It also indicates Pyongyang's intention to "use nuclear weapons as a standing diplomatic and strategic lever."

South Korean and US Response

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said last week that US President Donald Trump had told him it was time to "pay attention to the North Korea issue." He told reporters he had told Trump at a meeting of the G7 in France that sanctions on the North were "ineffective" and that "we can no longer deal with the North Korean nuclear issue in the same way we deal with other countries," with Trump agreeing.