North Korea Says It Is Not Bound by Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

North Korea is not bound under any circumstances by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, its representative to the United Nations said in a statement released on May 6. The statement, carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, called any attempt to force Pyongyang to fulfill treaty obligations a wanton violation of international law.

, said his country's nuclear program reflects its obligations under the law on nuclear forces policy and the constitution, which enshrined the country's legal status as a nuclear-armed state.

, which are taking issue with the DPRK's access to nuclear weapons through what he described as the legal route and exercise of its inherent defensive rights as a sovereign state. The statement came as the 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is under way at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Signatory states convene the review conference every five years to evaluate how well the treaty, adopted in 1968, is being upheld. North Korea announced its withdrawal from the treaty in 1993 and formally withdrew in 2003. The North's latest statement also came amid expectations that North Korea could be on the agenda at the planned summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week.

The North Korean diplomat argued that forcing the North to fulfill obligations under the treaty is a wanton violation of the spirit of the treaty and a total disregard of the purpose and principle of international law. He added that the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state does not change in accordance with rhetorical assertion or unilateral desire of outsiders.

"Clarifying once again, the DPRK is not bound by the NPT in any case," he said.

Kim Song further accused Washington of neglecting its nuclear disarmament commitments by providing other countries with advanced military technology, such as extended deterrence and transfer of nuclear submarine technology to non-nuclear states. South Korea's foreign ministry said the North cannot be recognized as a nuclear-weapon state under the NPT.

Security Council resolutions. The foreign ministry added that while maintaining the goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and under close coordination with the international community, the government will press forward with efforts to make substantive progress in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue through a phased and pragmatic approach.

South Korea's unification ministry noted that while Pyongyang's stance on the NPT has largely remained unchanged, this statement marked a shift by anchoring the legitimacy of its nuclear program within a newly revised constitution.

The revised constitution in March stipulated the president of the state affairs commission has the right to command the country's nuclear forces.