N. Korean leader's sister rebuffs ARF denuclearization call, vows to update nuclear arsenal 'steadily'

Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, delivers a speech during a national meeting held in Pyongyang, Aug. 10, 2022, in this photo carried by Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday denounced regional calls for denuclearization, reaffirming that North Korea's nuclear arsenal would be "updated steadily."

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Yo-jong criticized a joint statement released Saturday after the annual foreign ministers' meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Manila, which reaffirmed their commitment to the "complete denuclearization" of North Korea.

The ARF statement called for international efforts toward "the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner."

"Resolute and clear is the DPRK's stand that nuclear deterrence is the ultimate shield for national sovereignty and the supreme guarantee for defending sovereignty," Kim said in the statement. DPRK is short for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"Whatever others may say, the position and significance of existence of the DPRK as a responsible nuclear weapons state to keep the balance of strength and ensure the geopolitical security in and over the Korean Peninsula are final and irreversible," she said.

"The DPRK's nuclear capability will be updated steadily without a momentary stagnation," she added.

The ARF is the only regional multilateral security forum that includes both South and North Korea. However, Pyongyang skipped this year's meeting, marking its absence for the second consecutive year, amid what many believe to be its ongoing focus on strengthening ties with Russia and China.

Kim made similar remarks in June, calling North Korea's status as a nuclear-armed state "absolutely irreversible" and a "line of no retreat," while vowing not to tolerate any threats against it.