North Korea has declared that any future talks with the United States will not include the dismantling of its nuclear weapons program, stating that Washington must now accept the “changed reality” of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a nuclear power.
The declaration came from Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, via state-run media KCNA on Tuesday. She stated that while the personal relationship between Kim and former U.S. President Donald Trump “is not bad,” any attempt by the U.S. to leverage that bond to seek denuclearization would only result in “mockery.”
“If the U.S. fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-U.S. meeting will remain as a ‘hope’ of the U.S. side,” she said, adding that the country’s nuclear capability and strategic position have evolved substantially since the Trump-Kim summits.
“Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state … will be thoroughly rejected,” she asserted.
The remarks effectively shut the door on the core goal of prior U.S.-North Korea negotiations, which aimed to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. Trump and Kim held three historic summits between 2018 and 2019. Their first meeting in Singapore ended with a general commitment to peace and denuclearization, but the second summit in Hanoi collapsed after disagreements over sanctions relief and North Korea’s disarmament steps.
In response to North Korea’s latest statement, a White House official told Reuters that Trump remains committed to the original objectives of the summits and is still open to dialogue. “The president retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully de-nuclearised North Korea,” the official said.
Meanwhile, KCNA also reported the resumption of direct passenger flights between Pyongyang and Moscow—the first in decades. The move signals deepening ties between North Korea and Russia, amid allegations that Pyongyang has supplied troops and weapons for Russia’s war in Ukraine. In return, Moscow is believed to be providing technological support to North Korea, a development that has raised concerns among U.S. allies.
The shifting diplomatic landscape and strengthening North Korea–Russia relations suggest a realignment in regional geopolitics, complicating efforts by the U.S. to revive nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang.