North Korean leader’s sister rejects nuclear disarmament calls as ‘noise’

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on Thursday rejected international calls for Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear arsenal, dismissing them as “mere noise” and asserting that the country’s nuclear status is “absolute,” according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

Kim made the remarks in a statement published by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, coinciding with the 70th regular session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in Vienna, Austria.

The conference had expressed concern over North Korea’s expanding nuclear capabilities and urged Pyongyang to fully, verifiably, and irreversibly abandon its nuclear weapons program, in line with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

In a related development, the IAEA issued its Director General’s report on safeguards in North Korea, noting a significant increase in Pyongyang’s uranium enrichment capacity and the expansion of its main nuclear facilities.

Kim: North Korea’s nuclear status ‘absolute’

Kim Yo Jong stressed that such calls are “just noise, neither surprising nor new,” emphasizing that meetings of the IAEA and Western countries will not affect North Korea’s resolve to take necessary measures to defend its supreme interests.

She stated that North Korea’s status as a nuclear-armed nation is “firm, absolute, and irreversible,” adding that the country’s nuclear position is now stable and established both materially and legally.

She added: “No one and nothing can reverse the fundamental changes in the country’s strength and status or halt them in the future.”

New destroyer launched as part of nuclear deterrence

In a separate development, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week launched the country’s latest destroyer, declaring it part of the nation’s nuclear deterrent and capable of carrying out “devastating retaliatory strikes,” without specifying whether the vessel is armed with nuclear weapons.

The launch ceremony took place in the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, where Kim Jong Un said the deployment of the new ship in the East Sea off the Korean Peninsula “sends a clear message to the country’s adversaries.”

He noted that the 5,000-ton Kang Gun destroyer is the second warship of its class to enter service, following the launch of the Choe Hyon destroyer on the west coast about three months ago.