North Korea: Having Nuclear Weapons Is a ‘Matter of Life and Death’

North Korea: Having Nuclear Weapons Is a ‘Matter of Life and Death’
In this Sunday, April 15, 2012 file photo, a North Korean vehicle is shown carrying what appears to be a new missile. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File
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Pyongyang does not plan to hold any talks with Washington about its nuclear program, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Friday, declaring that possessing nuclear weapons was a matter of life and death for North Korea, the RIA news agency reported.
Tension has soared on the peninsula following a series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.