North Korea's Ministry of Nuclear Power Industry has criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for ''cooking up'' a resolution regarding Pyongyang's nuclear program.
He referred to the document released last Friday by the UN atomic watchdog, in which it emphasizes the need for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to suspend its nuclear weapons program and urges Pyongyang to take into account the nine resolutions passed by the UN Security Council that strongly condemn their nuclear and ballistic missile actions.
The spokesman labeled the resolution as a "conspiracy" orchestrated by the US and its allies, emphasizing that the IAEA lacks jurisdiction in North Korea since it withdrew from the organization in 1994. He underscored that North Korea's status as a nuclear weapons state has already become "irreversible."
"Such farce of the hostile forces is a revelation of their sinister intention to cover up their criminal acts of seriously threatening the international nuclear non-proliferation system and justify their hostile policy toward the DPRK", the official pointed out.
He made it clear that "As long as tyrannical nuclear weapons of the US and imperialist aggression forces exist on this land, the DPRK's position as a nuclear-weapon state will remain unchanged and the DPRK will never tolerate the hostile forces' acts of infringing upon its sovereignty."
Separately, the spokesman accused IAEA chief Rafael Grossi of "taking the lead in creating the atmosphere of pressurizing the DPRK" by "spreading a false story [in 2022]" about the country’s push for resuming nuclear testing for the first time since 2017.
"If the IAEA wants to avoid international criticism as a paid trumpeter of the US, it would be well advised to devote itself to tackling the difficulties facing the international community." He referenced Japan's recent discharge of wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant and what Pyongyang describes as US nuclear proliferation.
The remarks came shortly after North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) (the country’s parliament) amended the constitution to bolster and expand the DPRK’s nuclear force.
Last week Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the Standing Committee of the SPA, in a parliamentary session speech touted the DPRK as “a responsible nuclear weapons state”, which “develops highly nuclear weapons to ensure the rights to existence and development of the country, deter war and defend peace and stability in the region and the rest of the world."
He added that North Korean armed forces' mission is to "defend the national sovereignty and territorial integrity and the rights and interests of the people, protect the socialist system and the gains of the revolution from all threats and guarantee peace and prosperity of the country with powerful military capabilities."
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, for his part, expressed his "heartfelt thanks" to the lawmakers who "exercised the most historic right to vote in reflection of the general will of all the Korean people and added a brilliant page to the history" of the country's constitution.