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

North Korea’s envoy to the United Nations, Kim Song, said his country “will not be bound by the Non-Proliferation Treaty under any circumstances whatsoever.” The statement was carried by the official Korean Central News Agency on 7 May 2026 while NPT signatories were holding a review conference at the United Nations.

Kim Song said the United States and countries following its lead are “groundlessly calling into question the current status and exercise of sovereign rights” of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He added that no external pressure would change North Korea’s status as a nuclear-armed state, a status that “has been enshrined in the constitution.”

Bloomberg reported that North Korea amended its constitution to formally give leader Kim Jong Un sole authority over the country’s nuclear arsenal. The country withdrew from the NPT in 2003 after announcing its intention to do so in 1993. It has conducted six nuclear tests since its withdrawal.

The NPT entered into force in 1970 and has been signed by almost all countries except North Korea, India, Israel and Pakistan. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the review session that “Commitments remain unfulfilled. Trust and credibility are wearing thin.

” According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the nine nuclear-armed states possessed 12,241 nuclear warheads in January 2025. The United States and Russia hold nearly 90 percent of the global total and both have carried out major programmes to modernise their nuclear weapons in recent years.

No publicly released evidence in the source bundle documents any current quid-pro-quo arrangement between North Korea and Russia. North Korea’s foreign ministry has not commented on succession matters as of 7 May 2026. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has assessed that Kim Ju Ae is the most likely successor to Kim Jong Un; the agency estimates she is around 13 years old as of May 2026.

Kim Ju Ae first appeared publicly with her father at a ballistic missile launch site in late 2022, according to KCNA, and has since been shown participating in military drills including firing a sniper rifle and operating a battle tank in early 2026.