DPRK Decision to Withdraw From Nuclear Weapons Nonproliferation Treaty Comes Into Force

The decision of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to withdraw from the nuclear weapons nonproliferation treaty is becoming effective. This is said in a message sent by the DPRK government to the leadership of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On January 10 Pyongyang declared discarding the obligations it has assumed under the nonproliferation treaty to "protect the nation's sovereignty and state security". The United States is conducting, believes the DPRK, a hostile policy in regard to North Korea and is making use of the nonproliferation treaty for destruction of the North Korean regime.

The DPRK leadership is not for the first time using suspension of its participation in the nonproliferation treaty for the attainment of concrete political goals. In March 1993 the DPRK also declared bowing out from the treaty but as soon as in 1994 agreed to postpone the fulfilment of its decision, agreeing with the United States to freeze the nuclear program on terms lucrative for the DPRK.

Under this agreement, the United States was to arrange the construction of a new nuclear power plant in the DPRK by 2003 and supply it with fuel oil before the nuclear power facility was put to use. This time has come but the nuclear power plant is not yet in place. So, the DPRK has resumed its nuclear developments and has taken a decision to discard its international commitments in the nuclear field. Simultaneously, Pyongyang stresses that it is not going to create nuclear weapons.