North Korea Confirms Nuclear Weapons Retention Amid US Dialogue Prospects

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has firmly stated that North Korea will never give up its nuclear weapons, urging the United States to accept the reality of North Korea as a nuclear-armed state. She acknowledged the personal relationship between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump as "not bad," but warned that relying on this relationship to achieve denuclearization would be seen as a mockery by Pyongyang. Kim emphasized that any future talks would require Washington to drop its demand for complete denuclearization and recognize North Korea's nuclear status, a red line for the US. Despite this, the White House reiterated that President Trump remains committed to pursuing a fully denuclearized Korean Peninsula and is open to dialogue with Kim. The diplomatic stalemate follows the collapse of earlier talks during Trump's first term, after which North Korea continued to develop its nuclear arsenal. Experts remain skeptical about the prospects for renewed negotiations given these entrenched positions.