North Korea says it won’t give up nukes until US does

North Korea says it won't denuclearise unless the US removes the threat of its nuclear weapons first.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects what the North Korean government calls a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile. Source: AAP

North Korea says it will never unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons unless the United States removes its nuclear threat first.

The statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency on Thursday comes amid a deadlock in nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects what the North Korean government calls a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile. Source: AAP

It raises further doubts on whether leader Kim Jong-un will ever relinquish an arsenal he may see as his greatest guarantee of survival.

Kim and President Donald Trump met on June 5 in Singapore where they issued a vague goal for the "complete denuclearisation" of the Korean Peninsula without describing when and how it would occur.

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump shake hands following recent meetings. Source: AP

Follow-up talks have stalled with the North insisting that US-led international sanctions against the country be removed first before any progress in denuclearisation.