North Korea slams NATO, says allies must denuclearize first
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- North Korea's foreign ministry condemned the NATO summit, accusing alliance leaders of portraying Pyongyang's "legitimate sovereign rights" as a threat while pursuing bloc-to-bloc confrontation through increased arms spending and closer Asia-Pacific military cooperation.
- NATO summit in Turkey on Tuesday announced more than $50 billion in military procurement and industrial agreements, drawing pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump for European allies to shoulder a greater share of the alliance's defense burden.
- South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on the summit sidelines he hoped Seoul would expand cooperation with NATO allies in R&D, including cutting-edge technologies and weapons systems production.
- North Korea argued denuclearization should begin with what Pyongyang described as attempts by South Korea and Japan to pursue nuclear weapons under U.S. protection, plus NATO members participating in the alliance's nuclear-sharing arrangements.
- KCNA reported Friday that leader Kim Jong Un has decided to strengthen North Korea's nuclear forces "quantitatively and qualitatively" as part of military modernization — announced one day before the NATO condemnation.
Why it matters: North Korea is reframing the denuclearization debate to target U.S. allies rather than itself, while simultaneously announcing plans to grow its nuclear arsenal — and NATO's $50 billion in new military procurement, announced the same week, provides Pyongyang a concrete antagonist to cite in its justification.