North korea: North Korea on Thursday denounced a recent joint statement by the top diplomats of the United States, Australia, Japan, and India that called for the North's complete denuclearization, reiterating that it will never abandon its nuclear weapons. The foreign ministers of the four nations, known as the U.S.-led multilateral security grouping of the Quad, reaffirmed their commitment to the "complete" denuclearization of North Korea in a joint statement issued Tuesday after their meeting in New Delhi.

According to Yonhap News Agency, North Korea's foreign ministry stated that the Quad took issue with the North's legitimate exercise of sovereignty, claiming it is nothing but a political and diplomatic tool serving the realization of U.S. unipolar dominance. A spokesperson at the ministry emphasized, "We once again say there will never, ever be any denuclearization of the DPRK," using the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korea expressed that it "flatly" rejects the U.S.-led Quad's hostile stance against Pyongyang. The ministry also strongly called on the Quad to stop the pursuit of confrontation, which it claims undermines regional peace and stability.