North Korea rejects U.S. goal to resume denuclearization talks, as Pyongyang and Moscow strengthen ties

SEOUL, South Korea — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dismissed the U.S.’s intent to resume diplomacy on North Korea’s denuclearization, saying Tuesday the North flatly opposes any attempt to deny its position as a nuclear weapons state.

In his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump has bragged of his personal ties with Kim Jong Un and expressed hopes of restarting nuclear diplomacy between them. Their high-stakes diplomacy in 2018-19 unraveled due to disputes over U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea. Kim has since executed weapons tests to modernize and expand his nuclear arsenal.

In a statement carried by state media, Kim Yo Jong said she doesn’t deny the personal relationship between her brother and Trump “is not bad.” But she said if their personal relations are to serve the purpose of North Korea’s denuclearization, North Korea would view it as “nothing but a mockery.”

She said it was worth considering that the year is 2025, not 2018 or 2019 — which was during Trump’s first term — and any attempt to deny North Korea as a nuclear weapons state would be rejected.

“If the U.S. fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK- U.S. meeting will remain as a ‘hope’ of the U.S. side,” Kim Yo Jong said, referring to her country by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

She said she was responding to reported comments by a U.S. official that Trump is open to talks on denuclearization. She likely was referring to a Saturday article by Yonhap news agency that cited an unidentified White House official as saying Trump “remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully denuclearized North Korea.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday a regular air link between Moscow and Pyongyang started, a move reflecting increasingly close ties between the two countries.

The first flight operated by Russian carrier Nordwind took off from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport carrying over 400 passengers. Russia’s Transport Ministry said there will be one flight a month to meet demand.

North Korea has been slowly easing the curbs imposed during the pandemic and reopening its borders in phases. But the country hasn’t said if it would fully resume international tourism.

Regular flights between Russia’s eastern port city of Vladivostok and Pyongyang reopened in 2023 following a break caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Russia and North Korea have sharply expanded military and other ties in recent years, with Pyongyang supplying weapons and troops to back Russia’s military action in Ukraine.

Experts have said previously that North Korea would only be interested in talks on a partial surrender of its nuclear capability in return for sanctions relief and other benefits, while retaining some of its nuclear weapons.