Recently, G7 foreign ministers and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy announced what is called a “joint statement” which picks on our measure to bolster defense capabilities saying that it is a blatant violation of the UNSC “resolutions” and an “act undermining international peace and security as well as the global non-proliferation regime”.

We resolutely denounce and reject this as an outrageous infringement upon the legitimate right to self-defense of a sovereign state and intolerable interference in its internal affairs.

The announcement of “joint statement” by G7 is below any notice as it is a farce which divorces from the root cause of increased tension on the Korean peninsula and allows itself to dance to the U.S. tune in realizing its hostile policy towards the DPRK to weaken and deny our sovereignty and the rights to existence and development. But I want to mention about G7’s foolish attempts to stir up the international atmosphere of putting pressure on the DPRK by bringing in even the foreign policy chief of the EU which is not a G7 member state.

We have never recognized the so-called UNSC “resolution”, a product of the U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK which seeks to disarm our dignified Republic so as to realize its ambition of overthrowing the system.

To steadily build up our military capabilities to cope with the political and military environment created on the Korean peninsula by the U.S. which is running amuck to stifle our Republic; it is a legitimate right of a sovereign state.

In recent years alone, the U.S. staged joint military drills targeting our country hundreds of times and tested all kinds of strategic weapons. Besides this, it is seriously threatening the security of our state by deploying ultra-modern military offensive means and dispatching strategic assets in rapid succession to the region surrounding the Korean peninsula.

It is none other than the U.S. and its vassal states who are posing a grave danger to the global non-proliferation regime with the foundation of “AUKUS”. It is also them who are perpetrating acts of undermining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by dispatching nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and various warships to the region.

Stability could have been maintained so far on the Korean peninsula and in the region. It is entirely attributable to the fact that we have built powerful war deterrence to cope with the persistent military threats of the hostile forces which have lasted more than half a century.

G7 including the U.S. stand first in conducting nuclear and missile tests, and they upset the balance of power by continuously selling various war equipment to south Korea. It is quite absurd that they say this and that about so-called “non-proliferation” while making accusations against our measures to build up the self-defense capacities.

The more the U.S. clings to the anti-DPRK pressure campaign by rallying its vassal states, the more we will accelerate our self-defensive measures.

If the EU is really desirous of peace and security on the Korean peninsula, they should not blindly follow the U.S hostile policy towards the DPRK, the root cause of instability, but it should first call into question the arms build-up as well as the joint military exercise conducted annually by the U.S.

Ri Sang Rim

Director-General of European Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, DPRK