DPRK's Withdrawal from NPT Now Effectual: Official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, January 12, 2003

DPRK's Withdrawal from NPT Now Effectual: Official

The Democratic People's Republicof Korea (DPRK) withdrew completely from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as from Saturday, a DPRK senior official said in Pyongyang.

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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) withdrew completely from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as from Saturday, a DPRK senior official said in Pyongyang.

"Under the prevailing situation where the United States seeks to destroy the DPRK by force, and the IAEA is incapable of observing the principle of impartiality, the DPRK government issued a statement on January 10,2003 declaring an automatic, immediate and effectual withdrawal from the NPT on which it declared a moratorium."

This text was enclosed in a letter sent by Ri Je Son, director general of the DPRK General Department of Atomic Energy, to Mohamed El-Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Ri condemned the United States for its anti-DPRK policy which listed the DPRK as part of an "axis of evil" and a "target of preemptive attack." He added that this not only broke the foundations of the DPRK-US Agreed Framework but also violated the basic spirit of the NPT.

Under the Agreed Framework reached by the DPRK and the United States in 1994, the US side should take measures to achieve economic and diplomatic normalization with the DPRK.

Ri also rejected the resolution approved by the IAEA on Monday that the DPRK immediately scrap its nuclear program.

The DPRK government declared the NPT pullout on Friday. The NPT came into force in 1970 and the DPRK joined the pact in 1985.

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