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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, has reaffirmed Pyongyang’s nuclear status as “absolute”, dismissing hopes for nuclear disarmament as the expectations of “idiots”.
North Korea has formally declared itself a nuclear weapons state, while its leadership has repeatedly said its nuclear arsenal is permanent and cannot be reversed.
US President Donald Trump said in August that North Korea has 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, although South Korea has estimated Pyongyang’s arsenal at between 80 and 120.
South Korea said it was closely monitoring Kim Yo Jong’s latest remarks, which came as Trump has expressed interest in meeting Kim Jong Un again.
“The DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state is absolute which can not reverse with anything,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
She said North Korea’s nuclear weapons provide a major deterrent against what she described as “outrageous acts of international rogues”.
Kim made the remarks during the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, where she also criticised what she called the “familiar silly talk” about efforts to denuclearise North Korea.
“If they believe that it is really possible, they will only hear the word of idiots,” she said.
She added that North Korea’s nuclear status had been “permanently settled physically and legally”, arguing that it could not be changed regardless of how its opponents described the country’s position.
A South Korean Unification Ministry official said the timing of Kim’s statement was significant, given Trump’s recent comments about renewed engagement with Pyongyang.
“We are paying close attention to Kim Yo Jong’s statement, as it comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has recently expressed his willingness to pursue dialogue with North Korea,” the official said, according to an AFP transcript.
Trump has repeatedly said he is open to resuming talks with Kim Jong Un and said last month that he planned to meet the North Korean leader later this year.
The two leaders held three meetings during Trump’s first term, but their diplomatic engagement stalled after their 2019 summit in Hanoi ended without an agreement on sanctions relief or steps North Korea would take towards denuclearisation.
North Korea has continued expanding its nuclear capabilities since the failed Hanoi summit.
