North Korean leader's sister says nuclear programme “line of no retreat”

Pyongyang has long insisted on its right to nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes, although they are forbidden under the terms of UN Security Council sanctions. It enshrined its nuclear status in its constitution in 2023.

"The DPRK's status as a nuclear weapons state is the line of no retreat," Kim's sister Kim Yo Jong said in the English version of a statement published by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), using the North's official name.

"We will never tolerate any threat or compromise related to our sovereignty and security," she said.

Kim, who officially serves as director of the Public Affairs Department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and is considered a key figure in the country's communications and foreign policy, was responding to reports about US arms sales to South Korea.

She described them as part of a "continuous military buildup by hostile countries," which she said justified Pyongyang's efforts to strengthen its military arsenal.

North Korea continues to insist on its right to possess nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs despite international sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

The country formally enshrined its nuclear status in its constitution in 2023.

South Korea, the United States, and other members of the international community maintain that North Korea's denuclearization remains a key condition for lifting sanctions.

Pyongyang, however, views its nuclear arsenal, estimated at several dozen warheads, as a safeguard against any attempt to invade the country or overthrow its government.

North Korean officials argue that recent US military actions abroad, including in Venezuela and the U.S. war against Iran, have reinforced that belief.

"Outdated dreams"

Kim was responding to a White House statement issued on May 17, which said that U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi had "reaffirmed their shared goal of the denuclearization of North Korea" during Trump's state visit to Beijing.

"Some officials in the United States have not yet awakened from their unrealistic and outdated dreams," Kim said.

She added that such claims were "nothing more than old US practices of spreading misinformation."

Kim also rejected Washington's attempts to deny or challenge North Korea's status as a nuclear power, saying such efforts have "no legally binding force."

"The policy of continuously strengthening the country's defensive nuclear deterrent, as defined by the leader of the nation, is a final and irreversible course that must be implemented unconditionally," she said.

Xi visit begins Monday

Kim's remarks came a day before Xi's visit to North Korea, scheduled from Monday to Tuesday, according to state media.

Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP that the statement highlighted Pyongyang's "sensitivity" to any suggestion of a US-China agreement regarding its nuclear weapons.

"The core message from Kim was a complete rejection of reports that the United States and China had discussed North Korea's denuclearization, dismissing them as 'misinformation,'" he said.

Hong suggested that Pyongyang likely received assurances from Beijing during summit preparations that no such discussions had taken place.

China remains North Korea's most important political and economic backer. According to the Washington-based National Committee on North Korea, North Korea relied on China for about 95% of its total trade and 85% of its exports in 2022.

Although China previously supported the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and voted in favor of multiple UN sanctions resolutions against North Korea between 2006 and 2017, analysts say Beijing's stance has softened in recent years.

Experts argue that China's top priority is maintaining stability in North Korea, which it views as a strategic buffer against the US military presence in South Korea.