North Korea declares denuclearisation ‘irreversible’, condemns US-South Korea nuclear cooperation

North Korea said on Sunday that denuclearisation is no longer open for discussion, describing the issue as “irreversibly settled” while criticising recent nuclear deterrence talks between the United States and South Korea.

“The US and its vassal forces’ meaningless rhetoric against the DPRK and their cooperation in posing a nuclear threat can never affect the DPRK’s irreversible status as a nuclear weapons state,” a spokesperson for North Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA, using the country’s official acronym.

“The issue of ‘denuclearisation’ has been irreversibly concluded,” the spokesperson added.

The remarks came days after US and South Korean officials met in Seoul under the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) framework to discuss ways to strengthen deterrence and military readiness in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile programmes.