Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong-un, reiterated that Pyongyang would never give up its nuclear weapons programme, reaffirming the country’s commitment to strengthening its nuclear deterrent.
According to North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency, Kim dismissed reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump had reaffirmed a shared goal of denuclearising the Korean Peninsula during their summit in May.
Calling such claims “false”, Kim said North Korea possessed “the most accurate information” regarding the discussions.
“The policy of continuously strengthening self-defensive nuclear war deterrence, as declared by the head of state, is an irreversible and final conclusion that must be executed unconditionally,” she said.
Her remarks come ahead of Xi’s planned visit to North Korea on Monday for a summit with Kim Jong Un. The trip would mark the Chinese leader’s first visit to Pyongyang in nearly seven years and is seen as part of Beijing’s efforts to reinforce ties with its only formal treaty ally.
Earlier this week, North Korea unveiled a new nuclear material production facility, where Kim Jong Un called for an “exponential” increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal.
Analysts said the new uranium-enrichment site could strengthen North Korea’s position ahead of the Xi-Kim meeting while providing justification for a faster expansion of its nuclear capabilities.
Separately, Kim recently visited a major munitions factory and ordered missile production capacity to be increased 2.5 times over the next five years, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, citing North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
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With inputs from Reuters
