Overview

• Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong told the UN General Assembly that giving up the arsenal would mean surrendering sovereignty and the right to exist.
• Pyongyang framed its nuclear force as essential for maintaining a balance of power on the Korean Peninsula and for ensuring durable peace.
• It was the first appearance by a senior North Korean official at the annual UN leaders’ gathering since 2018.
• South Korea reports operating centrifuges at at least four sites and estimates up to 2,000 kilograms of weapons‑grade uranium, while the Federation of American Scientists assessed in 2024 that material exists for about 90 weapons with roughly 50 assembled.
• Kim Jong Un has signaled willingness to talk with Washington without a disarmament precondition, and reports describe a possible October meeting at the APEC summit as unconfirmed.