SEOUL: North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme is “absolutely non-negotiable,” senior official Kim Yo Jong said on Sunday, rejecting renewed calls for denuclearisation ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s scheduled visit to Pyongyang.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, made the remarks in a statement published by the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper. She reiterated Pyongyang’s long-standing position that its status as a nuclear power cannot be challenged and warned that North Korea would not tolerate external threats.
“Our status as a nuclear power is absolutely non-negotiable,” Kim said, adding that the country’s nuclear deterrent would continue to be strengthened.
The statement came a day before Xi is due to begin a two-day visit to North Korea, his first trip to the country in seven years. China remains North Korea’s most important political and economic partner amid international sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
Kim’s comments also targeted Washington’s recent assertion that the United States and China share the goal of denuclearising North Korea. Following last month’s summit between US President Donald Trump and Xi in Beijing, the White House said both leaders had reaffirmed their commitment to North Korean denuclearisation.
Kim dismissed the claim as “false information” and accused US officials of clinging to what she described as an outdated approach.
“Some officials in the United States still have yet to awaken from their escapist and anachronistic dream,” she said. “This is nothing more than Washington’s habitual dissemination of false information.”
She further stated that attempts to deny North Korea’s nuclear status carried “no legal force” and reiterated that the country’s policy of strengthening its nuclear deterrent was irreversible.
North Korea formally enshrined its status as a nuclear weapons state in its constitution in 2023 and has repeatedly described itself as an “irreversible” nuclear power since talks between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump collapsed in 2019 over sanctions relief and denuclearisation measures.
Separately, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported that Kim Jong Un visited a major munitions factory over the weekend and instructed officials to expand production capacity to ensure sufficient missile supplies.
Analysts said Kim Yo Jong’s statement reflected Pyongyang’s sensitivity to any suggestion that Beijing and Washington could coordinate on denuclearisation efforts.
Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the statement amounted to a direct rejection of reports suggesting that North Korea’s nuclear programme had been discussed during recent US-China talks.
Xi’s visit comes as North Korea continues to deepen ties with Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, a relationship that has strengthened Pyongyang’s international position following the breakdown of negotiations with Washington.