DPRK will not use nuclear arms first, vows Kim

Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, says his country will strive for world denuclearization and fulfill obligations of nuclear nonproliferation, the official KCNA news agency reported on Sunday.

Kim emphasized that the DPRK will not resort to nuclear weapons first unless its sovereignty is encroached upon by hostile forces with nuclear arms, the report said.

He made the remarks in a report delivered at a national congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, the first in 36 years.

Kim stressed that the Party has worked hard to implement the strategy of pushing forward economic growth and nuclear development at the same time.

At a plenary meeting of the Party's Central Committee in March 2013, Kim put forward the "Line of Byungjin" (Line of Parallel Development) to simultaneously push forward economic growth and bolster nuclear capability.

The strategy is said to be a further development of concurrent growth of national defense and the economy, which was introduced by late leader Kim Il-sung, the younger Kim's grandfather.

In his report at the national Party congress, Kim stressed that the government will improve and normalize relations with countries that respect the sovereignty of the DPRK and are friendly, even "though they had been hostile toward it in the past."

On Jan 6, the DPRK carried out a purported hydrogen bomb test, its fourth nuclear test. The DPRK's acts were against UN Security Council resolutions.

Kim also said, "We see the need to have dialogue and talks" between the military officials of the DPRK and the ROK.

The Republic of Korea on Sunday rejected the dialogue offer, saying the proposal is merely a propaganda drive with no authenticity as the DPRK continues to develop its nuclear program.

Wang Junsheng, an assistant researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' National Institute of International Strategy, said the ROK's reaction is "reasonable", but it is unrealistic to set denuclearization as a premise for talks.

Yang Xiyu, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said, "Compared to when the DPRK had been vowing a pre-emptive threat by nuclear weapons not long ago, Kim's statement is obviously a positive change.

"But in the end, only by achieving denuclearization, a goal that Kim Il-sung personally advocated, can the peninsula have real and sustainable peace and security," he added.

Wang Qingyun contributed to this story.