Kim Yo-jong Vows Continuous Nuclear Upgrade, Rejects ARF Denuclearisation Call

North Korea’s senior official Kim Yo-jong denounced the ASEAN Regional Forum’s chair statement that called for the full denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. In a dispatch to the Korean Central News Agency, she asserted that the North’s nuclear capability “will be continuously renewed without any pause” and labeled the ARF language as “absurd and ignorant.”

She emphasized that the nuclear‑armed status of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is irreversible and constitutionally guaranteed, rejecting any external pressure or “hope” that could alter the existing situation. The statement underscores Pyongyang’s intent to maintain its nuclear deterrent despite international calls for disarmament.