North Korea will not give up nuclear arms, Kim Yo Jong says

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said North Korea's status as a nuclear weapons state was "absolute" and could not be reversed.

In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, Kim said Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal helped deter what she called the actions of "international rogues". She criticised those expecting denuclearisation, saying they would hear only the word "idiots" if they believed it was possible.

The statement came during the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference in Vienna. A South Korean Unification Ministry official said Seoul was paying close attention because US President Donald Trump had recently expressed willingness to pursue dialogue with North Korea.

North Korea has legally enshrined its status as a nuclear weapons state, and its leadership has described its arsenal as permanent and irreversible. Trump said in August that Pyongyang possesses 57 "very powerful" nuclear weapons, while Seoul has put the figure at between 80 and 120.

Trump has repeatedly said he is willing to resume talks with Kim Jong Un and said last month that he planned to meet him later this year. Trump met Kim three times during his first term, but their diplomacy stalled after a 2019 summit in Hanoi failed to produce an agreement on sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would offer in return for denuclearisation.