North Korea rejects denuclearization demands
North Korea’s vice-defense minister, Kim Kang Il, declared the country's status as a nuclear weapons state to be "irreversible" during the Beijing Xiangshan Forum. Pyongyang dismissed ongoing international calls for denuclearization as a "daydream" and pledged to continue expanding its nuclear arsenal, citing a growing U.S.-led nuclear alliance with South Korea and Japan as justification for strengthening its self-defensive deterrent.