(LEAD) N. Korea rejects IAEA resolution, vows to maintain nuclear force amid U.S. threats

(ATTN: ADDS N. Korean foreign ministry's statement in last 3 paras)

SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Saturday rejected a recent resolution by the U.N. nuclear watchdog against Pyongyang's nuclear program, vowing to maintain the credibility of the country's nuclear capabilities in the face of what she called nuclear threats from the United States and others.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted the resolution at its 70th General Conference in Vienna on Thursday, reaffirming that North Korea cannot have nuclear-weapons-state status under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and calling on Pyongyang to immediately cease all related activities.

"The IAEA forcibly adopted an anti-DPRK 'resolution' that takes issue with our country's self-defensive and legitimate nuclear activities while turning a blind eye to the grave reality that our security environment is constantly exposed to external nuclear threats," Kim said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim's statement came two days after she reiterated that her country's status as a nuclear weapons state is "absolute" and cannot be reversed.

Kim criticized the IAEA for not raising concerns over the U.S.' deployment and sharing of nuclear weapons in Europe, its extended-deterrence arrangements involving South Korea and Japan, and Washington's plans to provide nuclear submarine technology to South Korea.

Extended deterrence refers to the U.S.' commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear arms, to defend its allies.

"This is yet another representative case that lays bare the agency's extreme double standards and bias," she said.

Kim also accused the IAEA of "serving U.S. interests and lacking the authority to interfere" in North Korea's nuclear activities.

Citing what she portrayed as the U.S.' rapid expansion of its nuclear forces, overt nuclear proliferation and the IAEA's double standards, Kim claimed that the current geopolitical situation requires North Korea to make a "more responsible choice."

"We will never mortgage our sovereignty and right to security to the 'tolerance' of the U.S. and the West under any circumstances," Kim said.

"Ensuring that the credibility of our nuclear force is not questioned under any circumstances is the most important matter for national security," she added.

North Korea's foreign ministry also slammed the resolution as being "cooked up" by "hostile forces."

"The DPRK's position as a nuclear weapons state does not need the recognition of the U.S., the West and the IAEA. It is guaranteed by the actual nuclear deterrent and irreversibly and permanently fixed by the supreme law of the state," a ministry spokesperson said in a statement carried by the KCNA.

"The DPRK will as ever firmly defend the sovereignty and fundamental interests of the state and thoroughly guarantee peace and security in the region and the rest of the world by deterring all challenges and threats from outside by overwhelming force."

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