North Korea says nuclear program 'absolutely nonnegotiable'

A day before a high-profile visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korea said it will not back down from developing nuclear weapons.

"Our status as a nuclear power is absolutely nonnegotiable,"Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said in comments published by the official newspaper of record, Rodong Sinmun, on Sunday.

She is considered a key communications and foreign policy figure in North Korea.

"The policy of continuously strengthening self-defensive nuclear war deterrence, as declared by the head of ​state, is an irreversible and final conclusion that must be executed unconditionally," she added.

Kim orders 'exponential' nuclear buildup

North Korea announced its first nuclear test in 2006 and enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution in 2023.

Earlier this week, North Korea unveiled a new facility to enrich weapons-grade uranium. Kim visited the site where he called for an "exponential" expansion of the country's nuclear arsenal.

Analysts said the new nuclear site ‌appeared aimed at reinforcing North Korea's negotiating position ahead of the meeting between Kim and Xi.

Kim also visited a major munitions factory and ordered the ⁠country's missile production ​capacity to be more than doubled over the next five years, according to state media.

Edited by: Rana Taha