UN urges North Korea to engage in dialogue after new nuclear law

By Betul Yuruk

UNITED NATIONS (AA) - The United Nations has called on North Korea to resume dialogue with key parties to achieve sustainable peace, and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The call came after Pyongyang adopted a new law to use pre-emptive nuclear strikes to protect itself, declaring North Korea a nuclear weapons state.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned" by North Korea's adoption of the new law, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Friday.

"The DPRK, by pursuing its nuclear weapons programme, including its development of missiles using ballistic missile technology, continues to disregard the resolutions of the Security Council to cease such activities," he said at a press conference.

North Korea's latest announcement came after the US, South Korea, and Japan last week issued a joint warning that if it conducts another nuclear test, they will respond collectively.

"The utmost significance of legislating nuclear-weapons policy is to draw an irretrievable line so that there can be no bargaining over our nuclear weapons," North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reportedly said.