PYONGYANG, North Korea: North Korea on Tuesday criticized a joint statement by G7 foreign ministers which denounced the country’s nuclear programme, arguing the grouping of rich democracies should be “dismantled immediately”.
In a statement issued last week, the top diplomats of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States and the European Union reiterated their persistent call for the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”.
The G7 foreign ministers also insisted on Pyongyang abandoning its nuclear weapons. They strongly condemned recent arms transfers from North Korea to Russia, asking the two countries to halt such activities immediately.
North Korea last year declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power and has repeatedly said it will never give up its nuclear program, which the regime considers crucial for its survival.
Jo Chol Su, a high-ranking official at Pyongyang’s foreign ministry, expressed strong opposition and condemnation of the recent G7 statement, dismissing it as “groundless.”
He said members of the G7, especially the United States, have “disgraceful records by doing considerable harm to international peace and security”, and that the group “has lost the justification for its existence”.
The “G7, the remnant of the Cold War, should be dismantled immediately,” Jo said, according to Pyongyang’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
He accused the group of being a “peace strangler, confrontation maniac and nuclear war merchant”.
Historic allies Russia and North Korea are both under international sanctions — the former for its invasion of Ukraine and the latter for its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
Their intensified military cooperation has been a concern for Ukraine and its allies, especially after the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September.
In a statement on Saturday, Pyongyang affirmed the growing strength of its “friendly and cooperative relations” with Russia, emphasizing their shared aspirations for peace, independence, and friendship. On Monday, the U.S. and South Korean defence chiefs updated a crucial military agreement for the first time in a decade, aiming to counter North Korea and enhance defence cooperation against the growing nuclear threats posed by the North.
