North Korea ‘will not give up nuclear weapons unless US removes threat’

North Korea ‘will not give up nuclear weapons unless US removes threat’ BelfastTelegraph.co.uk North Korea has said it will never unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons unless the United States removes its nuclear threat first. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/north-korea-will-not-give-up-nuclear-weapons-unless-us-removes-threat-37643923.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article37643921.ece/25844/AUTOCROP/h342/bpanews_d0aa15d1-4df5-4f75-8a6d-26605de5006e_1 Email North Korea has said it will never unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons unless the United States removes its nuclear threat first. The statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency came amid a deadlock in nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea over the sequencing of the denuclearisation process and removal of international sanctions. It raises further doubts over whether North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will ever voluntarily relinquish an arsenal he may see as a stronger guarantee of survival than whatever security assurances the United States could provide. It also suggests that North Korea will demand the United States withdraw or significantly reduce the 28,500 American troops stationed in South Korea, which would be a major sticking point to a potential disarmament deal. Mr Kim and President Donald Trump met on June 12 in Singapore where they issued a vague goal for the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean Peninsula without describing when and how it would…