The sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said that even though her brother’s relationship with President Trump is “not bad,” the U.S. still has to accept her country as a nuclear power. Kim Yo Jong, who acts as her sibling’s spokeswoman, was quoted by North Korea’s state media on Tuesday as saying: “I do not want to deny the fact that the personal relationship between the head of our state and the present U.S. president is not bad.” Still, she said, any effort to leverage the relationship to deny her country’s status as a nuclear power “will be thoroughly rejected.” Trump, who held denuclearization talks with Kim Jong Un on three occasions during his first term, said earlier this year that North Korea is a “big nuclear nation,” and praised Kim as a “very smart guy.” In response to Kim Yo Jong’s statement, a White House official told Reuters that Trump’s goals haven’t changed. “The president retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully de-nuclearized North Korea,” the official said.
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