Relationship between Trump and Kim Jong-un shouldn't be used for denuclearization push: Kim Yo-jong

Yet another message from the North Korean leader's sister, Kim Yo-jong, on Tuesday this time directed at the U.S.

She says the regime is up for talks, but not on the North's nuclear program.

Our Choi Soo-hyung reports.

On Tuesday, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the regime's leader Kim Jong-un, said through the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency that the U.S. must accept the new reality.

She added that if Washington continues to cling to the past, any meeting with the North will remain only America's hope.

Kim noted that the personal relationship between the U.S. President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong-un is not bad.

But she stressed that if the U.S. intended to use this relationship as a step toward denuclearization, it would only be regarded as "mockery" to the North.

She said that since Trump's first term, both North Korea's nuclear capabilities and the geopolitical environment have changed dramatically.

Kim warned that, "Any attempt to deny the position of the North as a nuclear weapons state will be thoroughly rejected."

She also said it would not be wise for two nuclear-armed states to move toward confrontation, suggesting that other forms of contact should be explored.

Following Kim's statement, the White House has again said that President Trump remains open to talks with Kim Jong-un about denuclearization.

Washington and Pyongyang held summits in Singapore in June 2018 and in Hanoi in February 2019, and later met at Panmunjom in June 2019.

Following Kim's statement, South Korea's presidential office said Seoul and Washington remain open to dialogue with Pyongyang and will work closely to restore inter-Korean trust and resume U.S.-North Korea talks.

Choi Soo-hyung, Arirang News.