North Korean Premier Kim Jong-un said that his country will not give up nuclear weapons. His words were quoted by the Korean Central News Agency.
“And now there are many forces that support the US mantra of denuclearization. These forces ignore the sovereignty of the DPRK and seriously violate it“, said Kim Jong-un. According to him, calls for Pyongyang's denuclearization are tantamount to an attack on the constitutional order, since the DPRK's nuclear status is enshrined in the country's basic law.
“Can we commit an unconstitutional act? Why would we agree to denuclearization?“, asked Kim Jong-un. “Lift the sanctions? "No way!" the prime minister said. He also recalled the new South Korean administration's three-stage concept of denuclearization, which consists of freezing the nuclear program, reducing the arsenals, and ultimately abandoning them.
“Recently, they proposed the idea of some kind of phased denuclearization, thereby destroying the basis for dialogue with us“, Kim Jong-un said.
“We will not give up nuclear weapons“, the North Korean leader stressed.
On September 19, National Security Advisor to the President of the Republic of Korea, Wi Song-lak, stated that the Republic of Korea is ready to offer the DPRK partial relief from sanctions in exchange for denuclearization during negotiations.