Choe Son Hui said Thursday North Korea would retain its nuclear weapons permanently, dismissing South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s renewed call for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula; she called its nuclear status irreversible.
A day earlier at the UN General Assembly, Lee called for halting further growth in North Korea’s weapons capabilities and eventually achieving a nuclear-free peninsula. He also said Seoul would lay groundwork to resume long-stalled talks between Pyongyang and Washington. Lee said last week that US President Donald Trump clearly wanted dialogue; Trump said last month he planned to meet Kim Jong Un later this year.
North Korea has legally enshrined its status as a nuclear-armed state. Separately, Pyongyang said Thursday it tested updated 240-millimeter controlled multiple-launch rockets on September 22. The official Korean Central News Agency said the weapons could strike targets up to 115 kilometers (71 miles) away.
