Kim Yo Jong attacks ASEAN over denuclearization call
Pyongyang said the idea of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula has lost both practical and conceptual meaning.
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, criticized ASEAN after the regional forum last week called for peace and stability on a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. In a statement carried by KCNA on Monday, she called the position “stupid and absurd” and said ASEAN was repeating a United States narrative. ASEAN had earlier voiced serious concern over North Korea’s continued development of nuclear weapons and urged dialogue. Pyongyang rejected the demand, saying its status as a nuclear-armed state was enshrined in the constitution in 2023. North Korea has also repeatedly described its nuclear program as an irreversible line, after talks between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in 2019 failed over denuclearization and sanctions relief.