North Korea said it will continue a hard-line policy toward the United States, taking issue with the South Korea-U.S.-Japan joint exercise and Washington's denuclearization stance.
The Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said in a statement released through the Korean Central News Agency on the 31st, "In the grave situation where the United States' permanent hostile policy toward North Korea is evolving into a more dangerous form, it is meaningless to expect any easing of tensions." The statement added, "There is not the slightest change in our U.S. policy, which intends to respond with the toughest measures to the end."
The Foreign Ministry took issue with the recent point that the U.S. State Department said it remains committed to North Korea's complete denuclearization, and that South Korea, the United States, and Japan will conduct the multi-domain joint exercise "Freedom Edge 2026" from the 7th to the 11th of next month. The ministry argued that through denuclearization and human rights issues and military threats, the United States reaffirmed a hostile policy that infringes on North Korea's sovereignty, system, and security.
The ministry also noted that North Korea's constitution specifies nuclear possession, saying, "The current status is not weakened or diluted by the United States' repeated statements of its denuclearization stance," and, "On the premise that there will be no change in the United States' policy toward North Korea going forward, we will be more resolute and explicit in exercising sovereignty to safeguard the supreme interests of national security."
It continued, "U.S. enmity toward North Korea is the root cause that heats up the tense situation on the Korean Peninsula to a more dangerous level and creates structural instability in the region," and argued for the legitimacy of nuclear possession by saying, "The nuclear possession of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and its continued strengthening are the most responsible and accurate choice for ensuring regional peace and security."