N. Korea not bound by NPT under any circumstances: UN envoy

North Korea is not bound under any circumstances by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), its representative to the United Nations said in a statement released Thursday, calling any attempt to force Pyongyang to fulfill treaty obligations a "wanton violation" of international law. In the statement, dated May 6 and carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Song, Pyongyang's permanent representative to the U.N., claimed his country's nuclear program reflects its "obligations under the law on nuclear forces policy and the constitution, which enshrined the country's legal status as a nuclear-armed state." "I denounce and reject in the strongest tone the brigandish and shameless acts of the specific countries, including the U.S., which are taking issue with the DPRK's realistic and just access to nuclear weapons through the legal route and exercise of its inherent defensive rights as a sovereign state," he added. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. The statement came as the 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on tWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times