North Korea says denuclearization is 'irreversibly' off the table

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - SEOUL — North Korea said Sunday that its denuclearization is no longer open for discussion, rejecting recent calls by the United States and its allies for Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesperson described denuclearization as a matter that has been "irreversibly finalized."

"It is an unreasonable talk and fantastic daydream to mention about disarming the other belligerent party's nuclear weapons," the spokesperson said.

The statement came after the United States and South Korea reaffirmed their commitment to the denuclearization of North Korea during a Nuclear Consultative Group meeting on Thursday.

"The US and its vassal forces' meaningless rhetoric against the DPRK and cooperation in posing a nuclear threat to it can never affect the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state," the spokesperson said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang also criticized the Extended Deterrence Dialogue held last week between the United States and Japan, where both countries reiterated their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea.

The spokesperson said Washington, Tokyo and Seoul would not be able to alter North Korea's status as a nuclear-armed state.

"No matter how hard the US, Japan and the ROK may quibble, they will never change the present position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state," the statement said, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.