Unification ministry vows to find 'phased, viable' path to denuclearization

Chang Yoon-jeong, deputy spokesperson at the unification ministry, speaks at a regular briefing in Seoul, June 12. Yonhap

The unification ministry said Friday its stance on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains unchanged, vowing to seek "phased, viable" solutions.

The ministry made the remarks a day after North Korea reiterated the stance of not giving up its nuclear weapons.

"The government has no change in its position to seek phased, viable solutions for denuclearization, which are mutually acceptable based on the reality," Chang Yoon-jeong, deputy spokesperson at the ministry, told a press briefing.

The previous night, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, lashed out at a Group of Seven statement released Wednesday at the summit in France, which reaffirmed their commitment to the "complete denuclearization" of North Korea under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Kim called Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal its "core interests" and denuclearization a "line of no retreat that can never be crossed."

Jang said Kim's statement appeared to be a reiteration of a position she had already staked out earlier this month, when she similarly declared the nuclear program central to the nation's "core interests" and is nonnegotiable.