North Korea calls G7 a ‘remnant of the Cold War’

North Korea has criticized the G7 countries as a “remnant of the Cold War” that provokes conflicts for their own interests and violates the sovereignty of other countries, its state media KCNA said on Tuesday.

Jo Chol Su, director general of the Department of International Organizations at Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry, condemned G7 foreign ministers for “slandering” the country’s exercise of its “legitimate and self-defensive sovereignty” in a statement joint following a meeting last week in Tokyo.

The G7 joint statement calls for humanitarian pauses in the war between Israel and Hamas, reaffirms support for Ukraine in its war against Russia and condemns North Korea’s missile tests and arms transfers to Russia.

“The G7, which provoked and fomented the recent international crisis, is saying this and that to criticize independent sovereign states,” Jo said, according to KCNA.

“The G7 is only the main dangerous source of destruction of global peace and security and the main stumbling block to the establishment of a just international order.”

The group cannot represent the international community but protects the interests of a few countries, Jo said, naming the United States as a supplier of deadly weapons to Ukraine to “deliberately destroy peace and stability” in Europe.

Jo also accused Washington of “knowing and instigating” military strikes on Gaza while “protecting Israel’s hideous massacre of civilians.”

“He lost the justification for his existence,” Jo said. “The G7, a relic of the Cold War, should be dismantled immediately, and this will be the first step towards defusing the current international crisis and restoring world peace.”

The North Korean statement coincides with South Korea hosting representatives from 17 member states of the United Nations Command (UNC) enforcing the Korean War armistice. Tuesday’s talks are expected to renew a commitment to respond to any aggression from North Korea.