Seoul, South Korea – Web Desk: North Korea has condemned the United States and its allies for strengthening military blocs and accelerating arms buildups following this week’s NATO summit, with Pyongyang insisting that denuclearization efforts should begin with US allies rather than focusing solely on its own nuclear program .
NATO Summit Sparks Criticism
The North Korean foreign ministry, in a statement carried by state media KCNA, accused NATO leaders of portraying Pyongyang’s exercise of its legitimate sovereign rights as a threat . The statement also claimed the alliance demonstrated a stronger commitment to bloc-to-bloc confrontation through increased arms spending and closer military cooperation with Asia-Pacific allies .
At the NATO summit in Turkey on Tuesday, officials announced more than $50 billion in military procurement and industrial agreements as European allies face continued pressure from US President Donald Trump to shoulder a greater share of the alliance’s defense burden .
Denuclearization Framework Shift
Pyongyang argued that efforts toward denuclearization should not be unilaterally imposed on North Korea. Instead, the ministry called for the focus to shift first to what it described as attempts by South Korea and Japan to pursue their own nuclear weapons under US protection, as well as the nuclear ambitions of NATO members participating in the alliance’s nuclear-sharing arrangements .
North Korea further stated that it would safeguard its sovereignty and security interests, as well as regional peace, “through the responsible exercise of its sovereign rights.” KCNA reported on Friday that North Korea had decided to strengthen its nuclear forces “quantitatively and qualitatively,” as leader Kim Jong Un calls for modernizing its military .
Regional Context
The statement comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea, speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit, expressed hope that Seoul would expand cooperation with NATO allies in research and development—including cutting-edge technologies and weapons systems production .
Pyongyang described NATO as a body “geared towards war and confrontation,” pursuing what it called exclusive geopolitical interests at the expense of peace and security in Europe and the Asia-Pacific .
