North Korean leader says he will not denuclearize

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said on September 22 that North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons, according to TASS news agency. His statement was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“And now there are many forces supporting the US slogan of denuclearization. These forces ignore the sovereignty of the DPRK and seriously infringe upon it,” said leader Kim Jong-un.

He asserted that calls for Pyongyang to denuclearize amounted to an attack on the constitutional order, because North Korea's nuclear status was enshrined in its basic law.

"Can we commit an unconstitutional act? Why would we agree to denuclearization?" - leader Kim Jong-un declared, also affirming: "Lifting sanctions? No way."

Kim Jong-un also reiterated the new South Korean government's three-phase denuclearization concept, which includes freezing the nuclear program, reducing the arsenal, and finally abandoning it completely. "Recently, they have put forward the idea of ​​a phased denuclearization, thereby destroying the basis for dialogue with us," Kim Jong-un noted.

He stressed that North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons.

The North Korean leader also said there was no reason to avoid dialogue with the US if Washington stopped demanding that the country give up its nuclear weapons. However, Kim Jong-un affirmed that he would never trade his nuclear arsenal to escape sanctions.

The comments come as the new government in Seoul is urging US President Donald Trump to take the lead in reopening dialogue with leader Kim Jong-un, six years after all peace talks with Pyongyang collapsed over disagreements over sanctions and nuclear disarmament.

KCNA quoted Mr Kim as saying: "If the US gives up its unreasonable obsession with denuclearising us and accepts reality and wants genuine peaceful coexistence, there is no reason why we should not sit down with the US."