North Korea is demanding that the United States recognize it as a permanent nuclear power, according to the latest words of Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a senior official in the country’s ruling Workers Party.
She was commenting Tuesday through the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on the possibility of renewing diplomatic talks with Washington, and laid out that any future negotiations must begin with a clear acknowledgment of North Korea’s “irreversible” status as a nuclear-armed state.
In essence she vowed to never give up nukes, amid the long-running South Korean and US-backed push for nuclear disarmament on the peninsula.
Kim warned further that attempts to deny this new reality “will be completely rejected” and stressed the country remains resolute and ready to defend itself in any situation.
Any future talks must be premised on the fact that Pyongyang’s capabilities and the geopolitical environment had “radically changed”. This new reality must be the basis for “everything in the future,” she said.