A South Korean official says that what Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in Beijing is nonsense. Jiang said that North Korea has the right to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes, but also at the same time must allow IAEA inspectors in.

The South Korean official pointed out that the Joint Statement of the Fourth Round of the Six-Party Talks sets forth that North Korea has the right to use nuclear energy peacefully after it fulfills its obligations. The official refutes China’s latest claim, saying that it goes against the prerequisites to and purpose of the joint declarations.

The official also said that no nation makes peaceful use of nuclear energy outside of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). India and Pakistan have de facto nuclear weapons outside of the NPT, but the two nations are faithfully implementing the safety measures set forth by the IAEA.

The official went on to say that even the Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula that went into effect in 1992 says South and North Korea are not permitted to enrich uranium, pointing out that North Korea making its own nuclear fuel goes against it.