Kim Yo-jong says North Korea's nuclear capabilities will be continuously upgraded, lashes out at ASEAN denuclearization call

Screenshot from KCTV [Financial News] Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, strongly criticized the ASEAN Regional Forum's use of the phrase "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" on the 27th. She also threatened that North Korea's nuclear weapons would be continuously upgraded and advanced. North Korea skipped this year's ARF, marking its second consecutive absence after last year.
In a statement released through the Korean Central News Agency on the day, Kim said, "We express strong dissatisfaction with the ARF's blatant hostile attitude, which ignored the North Korean constitution and sided with the U. S. -led rhetoric on denuclearization, and we firmly condemn and reject it in the strongest possible terms.
" She also threatened, "Nuclear deterrence is the ultimate shield of national sovereignty and the highest guarantee of defending state power. The position and significance of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a responsible nuclear state that ensures the balance of power and guarantees geopolitical stability are final and irreversible, and its nuclear capabilities will be continuously updated without even a moment of stagnation.
" Earlier, the Philippines, which chaired the ARF, said in a chair's statement summarizing the foreign ministers' meeting held on the 23rd that it "expressed serious concern over North Korea's continued development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and called for the full implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and the 'complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. '" The ARF chair's statement adopted after the meeting reflected the South Korean government's policy of peaceful coexistence, and the phrase "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" was included for the second straight year instead of the previous CVID wording.
Starting in 2025, under the Lee Jae Myung administration, ASEAN Regional Forum statements on the North Korean nuclear issue have placed greater emphasis on "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. " As recently as 2024, the forum referred to "peaceful dialogue" while also urging the international community to work toward the Korean Peninsula's "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" (CVID).
Separately, the foreign ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan held a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ARF and reaffirmed the principle of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, U.
S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu met on the 22nd and agreed to uphold the principle of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and maintain a strong deterrence posture against North Korea.
They also shared information on the recently deepening ties among North Korea, China, and Russia, and pledged close coordination on North Korea policy.
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