North Korea Vows to Bolster Nuclear Arsenal, Rejects U.S. Denuclearization

North Korea declared on Monday that it will continue to bolster its nuclear arsenal, rejecting United States calls for denuclearization and accusing Washington of maintaining a "hostile policy" despite recent diplomatic overtures from President Donald Trump. In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, a spokesperson for North Korea's Foreign Ministry asserted that the U.S. approach remained confrontational in both "rhetoric and behavior." The statement directly challenged the Trump administration's stated goal of the "complete denuclearization" of North Korea, which was reaffirmed by the U.S. State Department last week. Pyongyang characterized this demand, along with U.S. criticism of its human rights record and planned joint military exercises, as evidence of an "invariable hostile policy to wantonly violate the sovereignty, political system and security interests of the DPRK." The spokesperson emphasized that North Korea's nuclear status, enshrined in its constitution, could not be "weakened nor diluted" by such demands.