TOKYO, November 30. /TASS/. Pyongyang will never engage in talks with the United States to discuss its own sovereignty, but will continue to exercise its rights as an independent state, Kim Yo Jong, Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee official and sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said.
"An independent country’s sovereignty cannot be negotiated under any circumstances, which is why we will never come to the negotiating table with the United States to discuss it," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted her as saying.
Kim Yo Jong stressed that, "the main threat to global peace and security did not come from the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] exercising its sovereign rights but from the power and tyranny of the United States." "The DPRK will continue to enjoy the sovereign rights that all UN member states have, with dignity and without any restrictions," she added.
Kim Jong Un’s sister also condemned the US for convening a UN Security Council meeting over the launch of a North Korean reconnaissance satellite, slamming Washington’s actions as "banditry."
North Korea launched its first reconnaissance satellite, the Malligyong-1, on November 21. According to Pyongyang, the launch was successful. It was the third time that North Korea had tried to deliver a reconnaissance satellite into orbit, with the first two attempts ending in failure. In response, South Korea on November 22 partially suspended an inter-Korean agreement on easing tensions. The DPRK, in turn, said it would no longer abide by any restrictions.