North Korea declares denuclearisation permanently over, rebukes US‑South Korea

North Korea’s foreign ministry announced via the Korean Central News Agency that denuclearisation is “irreversibly finalised” and permanently closed. The statement, issued on June 13‑14, condemned recent diplomatic efforts by the United States and South Korea, describing their talks as “meaningless rhetoric” that cannot change the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s status as a nuclear‑armed state.

The declaration came immediately after U.S. and South Korean officials held the sixth meeting of their Nuclear Consultative Group in Seoul, where they reaffirmed the goal of a nuclear‑free Korean Peninsula and pledged extended deterrence for South Korea. Pyongyang dismissed these commitments, saying the “denuclearisation” goal is “terminated irreversibly.”

The announcement coincided with a summit between North Korea and China that omitted any reference to denuclearisation, and with continued reports that the regime’s Lazarus hacking group is financing its weapons program through stolen cryptocurrency. The North Korean stance signals a hardening of its nuclear policy and a rejection of further diplomatic negotiations on disarmament.