Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has ruled out any chance of a peace summit with Donald Trump, just hours after the regime fired fresh missiles into the sea from its eastern coast.
The launch marks Pyongyang's fourth provocative test in four weeks, bringing its 2026 tally to 16 ballistic tests, well above the six fired in 2025 and the 12 in 2024.
Backchannel diplomacy fails
Reports suggest the US had been attempting backchannel diplomacy through Pyongyang's United Nations mission in New York, aiming to arrange a meeting at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in China.
Trump previously met Kim Jong-un during historic summits in Singapore, Hanoi and the Demilitarised Zone during his first term.
Regime's response
Kim Yo-jong, who serves as vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, made clear that hopes of renewed talks were over. In her second public statement in 48 hours, she criticised joint US-South Korean military exercises and ongoing sanctions, describing the Americans as "unreasonable".
She warned that Pyongyang had "no need to sit face-to-face" with those "who refuse to abandon their policy of confrontation while talking about dialogue" and "prefer war drills and strengthening of military alliance to peace".
She acknowledged that the "choice for peace includes dialogue", but insisted talks could not resume until Washington abandons its push for total denuclearisation.
Arsenal and cyber-heist claims
South Korean intelligence estimates suggest Pyongyang could hold up to 120 nuclear warheads, though Trump has previously downplayed the threat, noting the US stockpile of 5,042 warheads is far "larger".
The diplomatic freeze also follows the regime's denial of claims that it carried out the biggest cyber-heist in history. After the FBI blamed North Korean state hackers for stealing $6.3bn (£4.7bn) from crypto exchange Binance, Kim Yo-jong branded the allegations a "grave political provocation" and "absurd rhetoric", accusing Washington of a "malicious attempt to get a political and strategic profit".
