North Korea's sister Kim Yo Jong has stated that the US must accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state and warned that dialogue aimed at denuclearisation would be seen as a mockery, emphasizing that North Korea is open to defending its current nuclear status and that recent geopolitical changes have altered the prospects for traditional denuclearisation talks.
North Korea's Foreign Minister, Choe Son Hui, has criticised the G7 countries for demanding denuclearisation, saying that North Korea's status as a nuclear power is "final and irreversible." She added that Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons is only intended to guard against US threats and that it will continue to take action measures until the military threat posed by the US and its allies is completely removed. The G7 foreign ministers had condemned North Korea's recent missile test and urged denuclearisation.
North Korea has successfully tested its first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which flew for about 1,000 kilometres. The launch was supervised by leader Kim Jong Un and his family, and was described as a "miraculous success" by official media KCNA. Kim stated that the Hwasong-18 would rapidly advance North Korea's nuclear response posture and support an aggressive military strategy. Talks on denuclearisation have been stalled since 2019.