UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A senior North Korean diplomat reiterated at the U.N. Monday that his country won't give up its nuclear weapons despite numerous international demands to do so, calling them crucial to keeping a “balance of power” with South Korea. “We will never walk away from this position,” he said.

Under the spotlight of the General Assembly's annual meeting of world leaders, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong amplified his country's longstanding complaints about U.S.-led military exercises with South Korea and Japan. Complaining that the U.S. and its allies are mounting a “growing threat of aggression,” he portrayed his own country's arsenal as the reason “the balance of power on the Korean Peninsula is ensured.”

Still, his address was more tempered, especially toward the Unit

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