North Korea not bound to any treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, KCNA reports
By R Anil Kumar
SEOUL, May 7, 2026. North Korea is not bound to any treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, state media KCNA reported on Thursday, May 7,as Pyongyang continues to reject international pressure and sanctions to dismantle its nuclear programme.
Kim Song, North Korea’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said in a statement that the U.S. and some countries were “on of North Korea as a nuclear weapons state “does not change in accordance with rhetorical assertion or unilateral desire of outsiders,” Kim said. “I denounce and reject in the strongest tone the brigandish and shameless acts of the specific countries including the U.S. which are taking issue with the DPRK’s realistic and just access to nuclear weapons,” said Kim, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
North Korea ratified the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1985 before ultimately declaring its withdrawal in 2003 as a nuclear crisis unfolded when the U.S. confronted Pyongyang about its covert efforts to build nuclear weapons. The legality of the withdrawal has been disputed.
“The status of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a nuclear-armed state will not change based on external rhetorical claims or unilateral desires,” he added.
“To make it clear once again, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will not be bound by the Non-Proliferation Treaty under any circumstances whatsoever.”
He continued that the country’s status as a nuclear-armed state has been “enshrined in the constitution, transparently declaring the principles of nuclear weapons use”.
North Korea has long insisted that it will not give up its nuclear arsenal, describing its path as “irreversible” and pledging to strengthen its capabilities.
It has sent ground troops and artillery shells to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and observers say Pyongyang is receiving military technology assistance from Moscow in return.
The nine nuclear-armed states – Russia, the US, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea – possessed 12,241 nuclear warheads in January 2025, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported.
The US and Russia hold nearly 90 percent of nuclear weapons globally and have carried out major programmes to modernise them in recent years, according to SIPRI.
The nuclear issue has been at the heart of the US and Israel’s war on Iran, with US President Donald Trump saying that Tehran – a signatory to the NPT – can never have a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies seeking an atomic weapon and has long demanded Washington acknowledge its right to enrich uranium.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held summits in 2018 and 2019 before negotiations broke down over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons arsenal. Kim last year signalled an openness to meeting Trump again if the U.S. dropped its demands that he give up nuclear weapons.
North Korea has set up nuclear facilities across the isolated country, with some analysts estimating it may have produced enough fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads.
