Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has ruled out any possibility of the country giving up its nuclear weapons, describing its status as a nuclear power as “absolute.”
In a statement carried by North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, Kim dismissed international calls for denuclearization as “silly talk” and said those who believe Pyongyang would abandon its nuclear arsenal were “idiots.”
“The DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state is absolute,” she said, referring to North Korea by its official name.
Her remarks came as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) holds its General Conference in Vienna, where members have renewed calls for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
The IAEA’s latest safeguards report also highlighted an expansion of North Korea’s uranium enrichment capacity and nuclear facilities.
North Korea has repeatedly rejected denuclearization demands and has legally established its nuclear status as permanent and irreversible.
Kim Yo Jong’s statement comes amid renewed discussion of possible US-North Korea talks. US President Donald Trump said last month that he planned to meet Kim Jong Un later this year and estimated that North Korea has 57 nuclear weapons.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it was closely monitoring Kim Yo Jong’s remarks because of the possibility of renewed dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.
Trump and Kim have previously held three summits, but negotiations stalled after their 2019 meeting in Hanoi failed to produce an agreement on sanctions relief and North Korea’s nuclear program.
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