North Korea says its status as nuclear weapons state is 'permanently' fixed

SEOUL — North Korea said Monday its status as a nuclear weapons state has been "permanently" specified in the North's law as it denounced the United States for repeating its "anachronistic" claim about Pyongyang's denuclearization at an international meeting.

North Korea's permanent mission to the UN office and international organization in Vienna issued a press statement condemning the US taking issue with the North's nuclear weapons program at a recent session of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"We strongly denounce and reject the US provocative act of revealing once again its invariable hostile intention against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ... and express serious concern over the negative consequences to be entailed by it," read the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

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North Korea said that while Washington has slammed the North's possession of nuclear weapons as "illegal," it is the US that undermines the international nuclear non-proliferation system through its radical nuclear arms buildup.

"The position of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as a nuclear weapons state which has been permanently specified in the supreme and basic law of the state has become irreversible," the North said, noting it will "as ever thoroughly oppose and reject any attempt to change its present position."

The statement came as North Korea has been advancing its nuclear and weapons programs while snubbing dialogue offers by the United States and South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported.

Earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited a research institute that developed a high-thrust solid-fuel engine, where he said the new engine will be used for the next-generation Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile under development.