The United Nations Conference on Disarmament is meeting this week in Geneva in a renewed push to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
It's been over 20 years since the conference has been able to agree on anything, but UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the international community to work together and make progress.
North Korea, though, is defiant as ever.
Won Jung-hwan reports.
Diplomats from both South and North Korea addressed the UN Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday.

North Korea's envoy to the UN, Han Tae-song, said the international sanctions and pressure against North Korea to get it to abandon its nuclear program... will never work.

Han also said plans by South Korea and the United States to resume their joint military exercises will be a setback for inter-Korean relations, which have improved since the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.
And Han urged the Trump administration to stop what he called its "provocations."


"Stop all provocations that accelerate tensions including deployment of nuclear assets around Korean peninsula. Second, completely stop the joint military exercises which is key factor that undermines regional peace and security."

Addressing Han's statement, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said North Korea must realize that as long as it continues down the path of nuclear development, it will only face more sanctions and pressure.
But Kang also said the sanctions on North Korea are not aimed at toppling the regime, but pressuring it to abandon its nuclear ambitions.


"Sanctions are not an end in themselves and not meant to bring down North Korea but to make it understand that its future lies not in nuclear weapons but in working with the global community towards denuclearization,"

The South Korean foreign minister called on the international community to faithfully implement the sanctions on the North,… but she also said that if Pyongyang makes the "right decision," Seoul will be ready to work "towards a brighter and prosperous future."

Meanwhile, U.S. disarmament ambassador Robert Wood was adamant that Washington will never recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapon state.
He said North Korea needs to drop that as a demand and respond to calls for it to halt its banned weapons programs.

South Korea would like to see its current thaw in ties with North Korea lead to dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.
However, the U.S. says any such talks will only be possible under the right conditions -- that is, on the principle of denuclearization.

Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.