US must recognize North Korea as a nuclear power – Kim's sister
In a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday, Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, cautioned that any future dialogue should be based on 'the recognition of the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state.'
Another prerequisite should be the understanding that Pyongyang's capabilities and geopolitical environment 'have radically changed' compared to Trump's first term, which saw historic US-North Korea diplomacy, she added.
Kim said any effort to deny this reality 'will be thoroughly rejected' and that North Korea 'is open to any option in defending its present national position.' At the same time, she acknowledged that 'it is by no means beneficial to each other for the two countries possess[ing] nuclear weapons to go in a confrontational direction.'
While acknowledging that 'the personal relationship between the head of our state and the present US president is not bad,' Kim warned that 'if the personal relations between the top leaders of the DPRK and the US are to serve the purpose of denuclearization, it can be interpreted as nothing but a mockery of the other party.'
'If the US fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, a DPRK-US meeting will remain as a 'hope' of the US side,' Kim concluded.
Trump met Kim Jong-un three times between 2018 and 2019 in an effort to negotiate North Korea's denuclearization in exchange for security guarantees and economic relief. Despite the unprecedented diplomacy, no lasting deal was reached and talks stalled.
North Korea is estimated to have around 50 nuclear weapons and insists that the arsenal is a vital deterrent against a potential incursion by the US and South Korea, which regularly hold military drills near its borders.
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