Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said North Korea will never back down on its status as a nuclear-armed state, warning that it will not tolerate any threats, state media agency KCNA reported on Thursday.
Kim Yo Jong called U.S. claims that Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed a goal to denuclearize North Korea during a May summit “false,” adding that Pyongyang “has the most accurate information” regarding those claims.
“The policy of continuously strengthening self-defensive nuclear war deterrence, as declared by the head of state, is an irreversible and final conclusion that must be executed unconditionally,” she said.
The statement was unambiguous in tone – North Korea’s nuclear programme is not a bargaining chip, and any diplomatic framing suggesting otherwise would be firmly rejected by Pyongyang.
Xi’s Pyongyang Visit
Xi is set to visit North Korea on Monday for a summit with Kim Jong Un, marking his first visit to the country in nearly seven years as Beijing looks to reinforce ties with Pyongyang, China’s only formal treaty ally.
The visit comes at a moment of heightened nuclear activity and assertive rhetoric from the North, with analysts watching closely for any signals on the trajectory of diplomacy in the region.
For Beijing, the summit is an opportunity to reaffirm its alliance with Pyongyang at a time of growing geopolitical competition with Washington, even as it publicly supports the broader goal of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.
Nuclear Build-Up Accelerates
Earlier this week, North Korea unveiled a new nuclear material production factory where Kim Jong Un called for an “exponential” expansion of the country’s atomic arsenal.
Analysts said the new uranium-enrichment site appeared aimed at reinforcing North Korea’s negotiating position ahead of the Xi-Kim summit while justifying an acceleration of its nuclear build-up.
Kim Jong Un also visited a major munitions factory and ordered the country’s missile production capacity to be increased 2.5 times over the next five years, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing North Korea’s state newspaper, The Rodong Sinmun.
Taken together, the flurry of military activity signals that Pyongyang intends to enter any future diplomatic engagement from a position of expanded nuclear strength rather than concession.
(with input from Reuters)
