Kim Yo Jong mocks Western calls to denuclearise North Korea as a 'daydream'

The powerful sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has mocked Washington and its Asian allies for what she called their "daydream" of denuclearising the North, insisting that the country will never give up its nuclear weapons programme.

The statement by Kim Yo-jong, one of the country's top foreign policy officials, was in response to a meeting last week between top diplomats of the US, South Korea and Japan where they reaffirmed their commitment to push for the Pyongyang's denuclearisation.

Noting that North Korea's goals for nuclear weapons expansion are enshrined in its constitution, she insisted that any external discussions of denuclearisation constitute "the most hostile act" and amount to a denial of her country's sovereignty.

"If the US and its vassal forces continue to insist on anachronistic 'denuclearisation' … it will only give unlimited justness and justification to the advance of the DPRK aspiring after the building of the strongest nuclear force for self-defence," she said in comments carried by state media.

She said North Korea's nuclear weapons status can "never be reversed by any physical strength or sly artifice."

Tensions in the regions have increased as Kim Jong-un continues to flaunt his military nuclear capabilities and align with Russia over President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Kim has also ignored calls by Seoul and Washington to resume denuclearisation talks.

US President Donald Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy, but the North has not responded to that offer.

Trump and Kim met three times during Trump’s first term, but those diplomatic efforts quickly collapsed over disagreements about ending US-led sanctions in return for North Korea taking