The foreign ministers of the four nations, known as the US-led multilateral security grouping of the Quad, reaffirmed their commitment to the "complete" denuclearization of North Korea in a joint statement issued Tuesday after their meeting in New Delhi, The Korea Times reported.
North Korea's foreign ministry said the Quad took issue with the North's legitimate exercise of sovereignty, saying it is nothing but a political and diplomatic tool serving the realization of US unipolar dominance.
"Explicitly speaking once again, the 'denuclearization' of the DPRK will never happen forever," a spokesperson at the ministry said, using the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea said it "resolutely" denounces the US-led Quad's hostile stance against Pyongyang while strongly calling on it to stop the pursuit of confrontation that undermines regional peace and stability.
In an assessment of the North's response, an official at South Korea's unification ministry said Pyongyang has long viewed the Quad as a foundational model to a potential Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and has repeatedly criticized the group.
The official also noted it appeared relatively weaker compared with last year, when the North's ministry issued a formal statement denouncing a similar Quad joint statement against Pyongyang.
According to the ministry, last year's statement focused primarily on criticism of the US, while this year's response also targeted Japan and Australia and appeared to defend China's position.