Kim Jong Un, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement published on state media on Sunday ahead of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping that there was “absolutely no room for negotiation” over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Pyongyang has long insisted on its right to possess nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs despite U.N. Security Council sanctions prohibiting those programs. It enshrined its nuclear status in the constitution in 2023.
Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, said in a statement published by North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper that “our status as a nuclear power is absolutely non-negotiable,” adding that North Korea “will not tolerate any threats.”
Kim Yo-jong, a key figure in North Korea’s communications and foreign policy, made the statement on the eve of Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea from Monday to Tuesday, state media reported.
Beijing is an important source of political and economic support for North Korea, one of the most diplomatically isolated countries in the world and subject to tough international sanctions.
Xi Jinping is about to visit Pyongyang, his first in seven years, following back-to-back summits with U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.
Pyongyang has repeatedly declared that it is an “irreversible” nuclear power since Kim’s 2019 summit with Trump collapsed over the scope of denuclearization and sanctions relief.
North Korea’s leaders have since been emboldened by the war in Ukraine, gaining crucial support from Moscow after sending thousands of troops to fight alongside Russian troops.
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In his statement, Kim Yo Jong continued his attack on Washington’s comments that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping reiterated North Korea’s goal of denuclearizing at their summit in Beijing last month.
The White House released a fact sheet after the summit saying “President Trump and President Xi confirmed the shared goal of denuclearizing North Korea,” which Kim Yo Jong said was wrong.
“Some officials in the United States still have not woken up from their escapist and untimely dreams,” she said.
“This is nothing more than Washington’s usual disinformation campaign.”
She rejected Washington’s attempts to deny or challenge North Korea’s status as a nuclear power, saying it had “no legal effect.”
She added: “The policy of continuously strengthening the country’s self-defensive nuclear deterrence proposed by national leaders is irreversible and must be resolutely implemented.”
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This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
