North Korea Rejects NPT at UN Nuclear Summit

Published MAY 7

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Above: Kim Song, North Korean delegate chair, speaks at the United Nations in New York, on Sept. 26, 2023. Image credit: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Spin

North Korea has every right to develop nuclear weapons as a sovereign state that legally withdrew from the NPT decades ago under Article 10. The U.S. and its allies are weaponizing the review conference to attack Pyongyang rather than address real disarmament failures. Countries offering "extended deterrence" and transferring nuclear submarine tech to non-nuclear states are the actual threat to nonproliferation.

KCNA Iranpress

North Korea's nuclear buildup is an ongoing violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and a direct assault on the NPT's credibility. Satellite imagery confirms sanctions are being systematically violated, and fissile material production at Yongbyon keeps expanding. The only path forward is complete, verifiable denuclearization — North Korea cannot be recognized as a legitimate nuclear-weapon state under the treaty.

Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations UN News U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva

Metaculus Prediction

There's a 25% chance that there will be at least one fatality from an offensive nuclear detonation in North Korea by 2050, if there's an offensive detonation anywhere, according to the Metaculus prediction community.