Kim Jong Un’s sister slams ASEAN’s denuclearisation call as ‘stupid and foolish’

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has sharply criticized the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for urging a denuclearised Korean Peninsula, calling the proposal “stupid and foolish.”

In a statement carried by state media on Monday, Kim accused ASEAN of adopting a hostile stance by echoing the United States’ longstanding push for North Korea’s denuclearisation. She argued that the concept had lost both its practical and conceptual relevance after Pyongyang declared itself a permanent nuclear state.

Her remarks came after ASEAN, at its annual regional forum last week, voiced “grave concern” over North Korea’s expanding nuclear weapons programme and called for dialogue to achieve lasting peace on a denuclearised Korean Peninsula.

Kim insisted that North Korea’s nuclear status, which was enshrined in its constitution in 2023, is non-negotiable and urged ASEAN not to become “a hired mouthpiece for the US.”

Pyongyang has repeatedly described its nuclear programme as irreversible since the collapse of the 2019 summit between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, where talks broke down over sanctions relief and denuclearisation.