North Korea’s foreign ministry on Thursday rejected an international appeal to halt nuclear tests, with a spokesperson calling it “a grave political provocation” by “hostile forces.” The appeal said any new North Korean test would be irresponsible and unacceptable.
The statement came from ministers of the Friends of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty—Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands—who met in New York on Tuesday. They urged Pyongyang to comply fully with relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The treaty, agreed in 1996, bans nuclear-weapon test explosions and other nuclear explosions worldwide.
In a separate statement carried by state media KCNA, Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said North Korea’s nuclear-weapons status is irreversible. She was responding to a meeting this week between the United States, South Korea and Japan, where the three reaffirmed their commitment to North Korea’s complete denuclearisation.
