UN Ambassador "IAEA President 'Virtually a Nuclear Power' Remarks, North Korea Is Not Recognized"

In response to a recent interview with the Secretary-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the IAEA, which referred to North Korea as a "de facto nuclear power," Hwang Joon-guk, Ambassador to the United Nations, said he did not believe North Korea was recognized as a nuclear power.

Asked by Rep. Lee Yong-sun of the Democratic Party of Korea to evaluate IAEA Secretary-General Rafael Grossi's remarks during a parliamentary audit of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee at the U.N. Mission in New York, Hwang said, "I actually created a new word called a nuclear power," adding, "I wrote it in a completely different sense from a nuclear power in a legal and political sense."

Prior to this, Secretary-General Grossi said in an interview with the Associated Press on the 26th of last month, "North Korea became a 'de facto nuclear power' in 2006," sparking international controversy over the meaning of his remarks.

"China and Russia also do not recognize North Korea as a nuclear power," Ambassador Hwang said. "It is true that North Korea's nuclear capabilities have been advanced, but recognizing North Korea as a nuclear state under international law and international political system is a completely different matter, and there are no signs of that yet."

Meanwhile, Rep. Yo-han, a member of the People's Power, pointed out that South Korea's eponymous unit should withdraw from the U.N. peacekeeping force stationed on the Lebanese border in connection with a series of injuries caused by Israeli attacks.

The South Korean eponymous unit, which participated in the U.N. peacekeeping force of about 10,000 people from 50 countries, is currently responsible for monitoring and reconnaissance of militants in Tir, southern Lebanon.

Ambassador Hwang said, "So far, the same-name unit is said to be safe," adding, "In the current situation, it is more dangerous for peacekeepers to move to withdraw and it is against conflict prevention missions."