N. Korea calls denuclearization an 'irreversibly finalized' matter

Korean and U.S. representatives for the sixth meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) sign a document on NCG security guidelines as they meet for the bilateral meeting at the defense ministry's headquarters in central Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense

North Korea on Sunday called denuclearization an "irreversibly finalized" matter as it denounced recent talks between South Korea and the United States that reaffirmed the goal of the North's denuclearization.

An unnamed spokesperson of the North's foreign ministry issued the criticism, after South Korea and the United States reaffirmed the shared goal at the bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group meeting on Thursday.

"It is an unreasonable talk and fantastic daydream to mention about disarming the other belligerent party's nuclear weapons," the spokesperson said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"The U.S. and its vassal forces' meaningless rhetoric against the DPRK and cooperation in posing a nuclear threat to it can never affect the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state," the spokesperson said. "The 'denuclearization' is an irreversibly finalized matter."

DPRK stands for the North's official name — the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The spokesperson also took issue with the bilateral Extended Deterrence Dialogue between the United States and Japan last week, where the two countries reaffirmed their commitment to the "complete denuclearization" of North Korea.

"No matter how hard the U.S., Japan and the ROK may quibble, they will never change the present position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state," the spokesperson said, using the acronym of South Korea's official name — the Republic of Korea.