North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said today, during the first congress of the ruling Workers' Party in the last 36 years, that his country will not be the first to use nuclear weapons, unless its sovereignty is violated, local media reported.
"Our republic is a responsible nuclear state that, as we have emphasized before, will not be the first to use nuclear weapons, unless aggressive enemy forces use nuclear weapons to violate our sovereignty," Kim said in an address to his party officials, the AP agency reported.
He added that North Korea will "sincerely fulfill its obligations in the field of nuclear disarmament and work for the abolition of nuclear weapons in the world."
Kim also stated that he is ready to work on improving relations with "enemy" countries, which, according to the American agency AP, represents a diplomatic reversal due to international pressure on the official Pyongyang due to the recently conducted nuclear test and long-range missile testing.
He said that Pyongyang is ready to improve and normalize relations with countries that are hostile to them, if they respect the sovereignty of North Korea and approach it in a friendly way.
North Korea's leader also called for more intensive talks with rival South Korea to ease misunderstandings and mistrust between the two countries, and appealed to the US not to interfere in inter-Korean affairs, the North's state news agency KCNA reported.
At his party's historic congress, which was last held in 1980, Kim also announced a five-year plan to develop North Korea's underdeveloped economy, to be implemented this year.
He cited the improvement of electricity supply and the increase of agriculture and industrial production as key parts of that economic program, KCNA reported.
North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a satellite launch in February, which world governments see as an attempt by Pyongyang to conduct a banned long-range missile test.
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