What happened in this Geopolitics story?

North Korea's vice defense minister told the Beijing Xiangshan Forum that US-led military buildup and a Washington-Seoul-Tokyo nuclear alliance justified Pyongyang's continued nuclear expansion, as Kim Jong Un's sister separately dismissed denuclearization demands as 'noise.'

What is a key fact in this story? (1)

**Kim Kang Il** said at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum that the US-led arms buildup and expanding nuclear alliance among Washington, Seoul and Tokyo justified North Korea expanding its forces, calling the DPRK's nuclear weapons status irreversible and 'the line of no retreat.'

What is a key fact in this story? (2)

**Kim Kang Il** blamed Korean Peninsula tensions on Washington's 'invariable' hostile policy and accused the US of transforming its trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan into a 'nuclear alliance,' urging other countries to abandon what he called the 'daydream' of denuclearization.

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North Korea says US-led arms buildup justifies expanding nuclear force — SkimNews

By Straits Times Asia · Summarized & edited by Kapil Samant · 2026-09-17

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Kim Kang Il said at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum that the US-led arms buildup and expanding nuclear alliance among Washington, Seoul and Tokyo justified North Korea expanding its forces, calling the DPRK's nuclear weapons status irreversible and 'the line of no retreat.'
Kim Kang Il blamed Korean Peninsula tensions on Washington's 'invariable' hostile policy and accused the US of transforming its trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan into a 'nuclear alliance,' urging other countries to abandon what he called the 'daydream' of denuclearization.
Kim Yo Jong rejected renewed calls for denuclearization following the IAEA annual meeting, declaring North Korea's nuclear status 'absolute' and permanently established 'physically and legally,' and dismissing denuclearization demands as annual 'noise.'
A North Korean defense ministry spokesman accused the US and South Korea of escalating confrontation through joint WMD response planning and exercises, calling them an 'open declaration of confrontation' that could force Pyongyang to invoke provisions of its nuclear force policy law.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, described the statements as a coordinated Pyongyang messaging campaign to cement the claim that its nuclear status had reached an 'irreversible stage' and to justify future military and nuclear activity.
Kim Kang Il declined to comment on a possible Trump-Kim Jong Un summit, and his Xiangshan Forum appearance marked a rare high-profile North Korean showing at an international security gathering amid a deepening Pyongyang-Beijing relationship.

Why it matters: By having Kim Kang Il and Kim Yo Jong publicly declare denuclearization 'absolute' and closed off in one news cycle, Pyongyang is foreclosing the diplomatic pathway the US and South Korea have repeatedly tried to revive, just as Washington-Seoul-Tokyo coordination is intensifying. The coordinated messaging across forum, state media, and defense ministry statements leaves little rhetorical room for the engagement-first approach Trump has signaled interest in pursuing with Kim Jong Un.