North Korea denounced the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as a 'pipe dream' that can never be realized on Saturday, following Seoul's announcement that the issue would be discussed at the summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The statement came ahead of their first summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Gyeongju. Pyongyang criticized South Korea for repeatedly raising the topic and denying its status as a nuclear weapons state.
North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong-ho issued a statement via the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), criticizing South Korea for raising the denuclearization issue at every opportunity. "We will show with patience that denuclearization is a 'pipe dream' which can never be realized even if it talks about it a thousand times," Pak said. He added that "struggling to deny the DPRK's position as a nuclear weapons state and talking about its daydream of realizing the denuclearization just reveals its lack of common sense." DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
The remarks came a day before the first summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled for Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting in Gyeongju. The Presidential Office confirmed that denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is on the agenda. Xi arrived in South Korea on Thursday for a three-day state visit, his first to the country in 11 years. Lee met Xi for the first time on Friday while attending the APEC summit.
While protesting Seoul's announcement, the statement also appeared to express discomfort toward China ahead of the Lee-Xi summit. In May last year, North Korea denounced a joint declaration after the trilateral summit of South Korea, China, and Japan, which reaffirmed commitment to denuclearization, calling it 'wanton interference' in its internal affairs. Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung stated on October 31 that the summit's agenda includes denuclearization and regional peace efforts.
