The country's status as a nuclear power is "definite and irrevocable," Kim Yo-Jong said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency. Those who hope and believe in nuclear disarmament are "idiots," she continued.
South Korea's Unification Ministry sees Kim Yo-Jong's statement as remarkable, according to an official:
We are following Kim Yo-Jong's statement closely, as it comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has recently expressed his willingness to engage in dialogue with North Korea.
Relations between Washington and Pyongyang have been on hold since a failed meeting in Hanoi in 2019, during Trump's first term.
The IAEA announced on Thursday “increased activity at several of North Korea’s nuclear facilities and further development of the country’s nuclear energy program,” and urged the country to immediately end the “activity.”
103 countries that are part of the IAEA's steering group voted in favor of issuing the warning, while 14 abstained. Six countries voted against it, among them Russia and China.
North Korea is believed to have between 60 and 120 nuclear weapons.
