Fatma Zehra Solmaz
07 June 2026•Update: 07 June 2026
North Korea doubled down early Sunday on its “nuclear status,” rejecting “threats” as Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to visit Pyongyang, Yonhap News reported, citing North Korean state media.
Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said the country’s status as a nuclear-armed state is “absolutely irreversible” and its nuclear weapons program “is nonnegotiable, rejecting international efforts aimed at denuclearization.”
It comes as Xi is set for a two-day state visit to North Korea for the first time in seven years, and follows his summits with the US and Russian presidents in Beijing last month.
The White House said after the American president’s visit that Xi and US President Donald Trump reaffirmed a shared goal of denuclearizing North Korea.
Beijing has not disclosed details of the discussions but said China is working in “its own way” toward a “political settlement” of the nuclear issue.
Xi’s visit begins Monday at the invitation of the North Korean leader.
