Kim Jong Un's Sister Rejects Denuclearisation: North Korea's Nuclear Weapons are Absolute

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has issued a firm statement regarding efforts towards the denuclearisation or disarmament of North Korea’s nuclear weapons. She described such discourse as a foolish endeavour.

“The position of the DPRK as a nuclear-armed state is absolute and cannot be changed by anything,” Kim stated in a report by the Korean Central News Agency, as cited by AFP on Thursday (17/09/2026).

North Korea has officially established its status as a nuclear-armed state through legislation. The North Korean government maintains that its possession of nuclear weapons is permanent and irreversible.

Former US President Donald Trump once suggested that North Korea possessed 57 nuclear weapons, while South Korean authorities estimate the neighbouring nation holds between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads.

Kim Yo Jong emphasised that her country possesses an absolute right to nuclear ownership. “Pyongyang’s nuclear weaponry provides a significant contribution to preventing excessive actions from rogue actors in the international community,” she said.

Kim’s remarks were made amidst the ongoing General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna last week. She stated that the “silly chatter” regarding North Korean denuclearisation efforts was entirely predictable.

“If they believe such a thing is truly possible, they are merely listening to the words of fools,” she remarked.

“No matter how hard hostile forces rhetorically deny it, the reality that the DPRK’s nuclear position has been established permanently, both physically and legally, will not change in the slightest,” she added.

North Korea’s nuclear arsenal has continued to expand since the failure of the second summit between Kim and Trump in 2019, which collapsed due to disagreements over the rewards Pyongyang would receive in exchange for denuclearisation steps.