North Korea has made clear that the United States must accept its status as a nuclear‑armed state before any future summit—even if diplomatic overtures continue—declaring its weapons program “irreversible” and rejecting denuclearization as a negotiating precondition. According to state media KCNA, Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un and a top ruling party official, stressed that Washington should recognize Pyongyang’s transformed capabilities and evolving geopolitical environment, warning that failure to do so would render any DPRK‑US meeting “a ‘hope’ of the U.S. side” rather than a genuine dialogue.
She acknowledged that the personal relationship between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump “is not bad,” but added that using that connection to advance denuclearization would be perceived as “nothing but a mockery”.
Kim Yo Jong’s remarks come amid Pyongyang’s expanding military ties with Russia, including the resumption of direct flights between Moscow and Pyongyang—and underscore its confidence in its nuclear deterrent, which she described as fixed by the nation’s supreme law and grounded in “the unanimous will of all the DPRK people”. She asserted that any attempt to negate North Korea’s nuclear status would be “thoroughly rejected” and dismissed U.S. pressure to dismantle its arsenal as outdated and disconnected from the shifting strategic reality.
While U.S. officials reaffirm that they remain committed to denuclearization goals, they also emphasize openness to limited talks. A White House spokesperson said, President Trump still supports engaging with Kim Jong Un to pursue that objective, but warned that North Korea must show readiness for substantive change, not merely symbolic gestures.
