North Korea says it has no interest in negotiations, similar to those between Iran and world powers, that would result in Pyongyang giving up its nuclear capabilities.
A foreign ministry statement Tuesday said it is "illogical" to compare's Iran's nuclear agreement with the situation in North Korea because Pyongyang is "always subjected to provocative U.S. military hostilities, including massive joint military exercises and a grave nuclear threat."
Iran and six world powers finalized a deal last week that will limit Iran's nuclear capabilities in exchange for sanctions relief. Following the agreement, U.S. Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman called on North Korea to learn from the deal.
"The one thing I will say, and I would say to the North Koreans, is that this agreement demonstrates that one can come out of isolation, one can come out from under sanctions, one can become part of the world community or have the potential to become part of the world community and end isolation, and do so in a peaceful way," she said. "It perhaps might give North Korea second thoughts about the very dangerous path that it is currently pursuing."
North Korea Tuesday said it has no interest in any dialogue to discuss freezing or dismantling its nuclear program and insisted that it is a "nuclear weapons state."
The isolated Communist country has conducted three nuclear tests. It's most recent test in 2013 prompted the U.N. Security Council, led by China and the United States, to pass severe sanctions on North Korean banking, travel and trade.
North Korea in 2009 walked out of six-nation talks aimed at convincing it to give up its nuclear program in exchange for badly needed aid and security guarantees. Those talks included the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
