North Korea declares its nuclear status ‘irreversible’

North Korea said Monday that its status as a nuclear weapons state is "permanently enshrined" in law and is ''irreversible'' as it condemned the US for continuing to demand its denuclearization, state media reported.

The statement came after the US raised the issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons program at a recent session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"Recently, at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors, the US once again committed a grave political provocation by branding our possession of nuclear weapons as illegal and clamoring about denuclearization," said North Korea's permanent mission to the UN in a statement cited by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"The position of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as a nuclear weapons state, which has been permanently specified in the supreme and basic law of the state, has become irreversible," the mission added.

"We strongly denounce and reject the US provocative act of revealing once again its invariable hostile intention against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and express serious concern over the negative consequences to be entailed by it," the statement said.

North Korea said that while Washington has slammed the North's possession of nuclear weapons as "illegal," it is the US that undermines the international nuclear non-proliferation system through its "radical" nuclear arms buildup.

It said last month that it could resume dialogue with Washington, but only if it is recognized as a permanent nuclear power.