North Korea on Thursday, said that its commitment over the “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” includes “completely eliminating the U.S. nuclear threat to Korea”.
After their historic summit in June in Singapore, North Korean President Kim Jong-Un and the United States President Donald Trump has issued a joint statement to confirm the validity of North Korean commitment to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”.
Thursday’s commentary, released by North Korea stated: “When we refer to the Korean peninsula, the term encompasses the area of DPRK plus South Korean territory where U.S. nuclear weapons and other forms of aggression forces are deployed.”
It further stated: “When we refer to the ‘denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula’ as well, it should be correctly understood as removing all nuclear threat factors from not only the North and the South but from all neighboring areas.”
In the article, North Korea has rejected American call over to unilaterally denuclearize, and Washington needs to abandon the “delusion” over forcing Pyongyang on abandoning its nuclear weapons “via pressure and oppression”.
The US has stated that until North Korea does not progress towards its verifiable denuclearization, US would not be lifting any sanctions on North Korea.
Washington has rejected the suggestion of reducing its military presence in North Korea as a part of deal with it, but instead, made a surprise move by announcing that the Pentagon would now be cancelling its largest military exercises which were conducted with South Korea.
The commentary stated: “It is obvious that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is a joint business that cannot be achieved unless both Korea and the United States strive together.”
It also stated: “In this sense, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula should be defined as ‘completely eliminating the U.S. nuclear threat to Korea’ before it can eliminate our nuclear deterrent.”
According to news reports, question over promise of “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula”, the US state department spokesperson Robert Palladino said, “We are focused on the denuclearization of North Korea,” adding, “We remain confident and we look forward to the commitments that Chairman Kim and that President Trump have made.”