N. Korean ambassador to Russia urges South to get rid of foreign nukes on its territory
MOSCOW. Feb 4 (Interfax) - North Korean Ambassador to Russia Kim Yong-jae believes the South Korean authorities should officially declare that no foreign nuclear weapons would be deployed on the country's territory.
"Before finding fault with our self-defense nuclear forces, which is the nation's sacred possession, the rulers of South Korea should make a bold decision to voluntarily stop their most dangerous actions in deploying foreign nuclear weapons posing a threat to their compatriots," Kim said at a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday.
The nuclear weapons possessed by North Korea are defensive in nature, Kim said. "The DPRK's nuclear potential is the common national prized sword to protect the country and the nation rather than a means of intimidation or destruction of compatriots," he said.
He noted also that regular visits of U.S. vessels carrying offensive nuclear weapons to South Korean ports are fraught with the danger of a nuclear disaster on the Korean Peninsula.
Talking about the history of the Korean Peninsula's nuclear problem, Kim pointed out that "it is rooted in the late 1950s, when the U.S. covertly smuggled more than 1,000 nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles to South Korea."
