North Korea declares nuclear statehood 'permanently enshrined'

North Korea said its status as a nuclear-armed state is "permanently enshrined" in its law and "irreversible", state media reported Monday, condemning the United States for demanding its denuclearisation.

"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 clamouring about denuclearisation," the North's UN mission said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The status of North Korea "as a nuclear-armed state, enshrined permanently in the nation's supreme and fundamental law, has become irreversible", the statement said, noting the country has not had "official relations" with the nuclear watchdog for more th