Pyongyang won’t denuclearize ‘unless US removes threat’

North Korea said Thursday 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 raises further doubts on whether leader Kim Jong-un will ever relinquish an arsenal he may see as his greatest guarantee of survival, AP said. “The US must now recognize the accurate meaning of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and especially, must study geography the right way,” the statement said. “When we talk about the Korean Peninsula, it includes the territory of our republic and also the entire region of [South Korea] where the US has placed its invasive force, including nuclear weapons.” The complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula means the removal of all sources of nuclear threat, not only from the South and North but also from areas neighboring the Korean Peninsula, the statement said.