WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The North Korean representative to the United Nations told the UN General Assembly on Monday that its status as a nuclear-armed State was irreversible, arguing that its military capabilities were necessary to safeguard the country's sovereignty and maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Addressing the Assembly's annual high-level debate, Vice-Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong painted a bleak picture of global affairs, pointing to growing distrust, conflicts, climate-related disasters and socioeconomic pressures.
He argued that the United Nations was failing to fulfil its responsibilities because of 'high-handedness and unilateralism' by a small number of States and called for greater adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
Kim said respect for sovereignty, security interests and countries' right to development was essential to overcoming current crises.
Much of his address focused on growing military tensions in Northeast Asia, particularly on and around the Korean Peninsula.
Kim accused the United States and its allies of increasing military pressure on his country through exercises and military deployments, singling out the US-Japan-Republic of Korea security partnership.
He also strongly criticized Japan's moves to expand its military capabilities, arguing that they were contributing to instability in the region.
Against that backdrop, Kim presented Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal as a defensive necessity and credited the country's military deterrent with preventing armed conflict.
'The DPRK's nuclear deterrent is the absolute might and irresistible force designed, from A to Z, to safeguard the sovereignty, security and peace against aggression and threat from outside,' he said.
He insisted that the country's nuclear status had been established 'physically and legally' and 'can never be reversed in any circumstances or by any means.'
The Korean envoy added that North Korea would continue strengthening its ability to counter what it considers external threats while acting, in his words, as a 'responsible nuclear weapons state.'
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