DPRK Foreign Ministry Calls Denuclearization 'Definitively Closed,' Condemns NATO Summit

An unnamed DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesperson said via KCNA that the question of North Korea's denuclearization is 'finally closed' and not subject to reconsideration, dismissing a July 8 trilateral statement by the defense chiefs of the US, South Korea and Japan reaffirming the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. The spokesperson called the trilateral demand 'pointless,' argued the US and its allies should denuclearize first, and warned NATO members — responding to the alliance's Ankara summit — not to 'export geopolitical instability' from Europe into the Asia-Pacific.