Kim Jong-Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, issued a warning to the Trump administration this week: don’t expect North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenal. In comments released by state media, she said that any push for denuclearization would be seen as “nothing but a mockery.”
While she acknowledged that relations between President Donald Trump and her brother remain “not bad,” she made it clear that a future summit would not be possible if the U.S. insisted on the North giving up its nukes. Since the last Trump-Kim summit, North Korea’s nuclear capabilities have grown, she claimed.
Despite the firm tone, Kim Yo Jong didn’t rule out talks entirely. She stated that a different approach might be possible but only if the U.S. recognizes what she called “the changed reality.” If not, she said, any meeting would be a “hope” held only by Washington.
“If the U.S. fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past,” she said, “the DPRK-U.S. meeting will remain as a ‘hope’ of the U.S. side.” She advised Washington to “seek another way of contact” going forward.
Kim Yo Jong holds a senior position on North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee and oversees relations with both the U.S. and South Korea. She recently ruled out talks with Seoul entirely.
Trump famously held three high-profile summits with Kim Jong-Un, who he called "Little Rocket Man" during his first term — in Singapore, Hanoi, and the Korean Demilitarized Zone — even stepping onto North Korean soil, a first for any sitting U.S. president.
While those summits made headlines, they failed to produce any denuclearization deal. North Korea kept its weapons, and the U.S. kept its sanctions.
Responding to a Yonhap News report suggesting Trump is still open to dialogue, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the president “would like to see progress” in his second term. Trump also reiterated his pride in U.S.-South Korea relations, saying, “Although the evils of communism still persist in Asia, American and South Korean forces remain united in an ironclad alliance to this day.”