New talks between North Korea and the United States are possible if Washington drops its demand that Pyongyang rid itself of nuclear weapons, Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister suggested in a statement released by state media Tuesday. Kim Yo Jong said the relationship between her brother and US President Donald Trump “is not bad,” according to a statement released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), leaving room for the two leaders to resume a dialogue from Trump’s first term that saw them meet three times. Their first meeting yielded a deal in principle to make the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons, but relations faltered when later meetings did not result in movement to lift international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over its nuclear program. Since then Kim Jong Un has continued to test and grow his nuclear-capable missile forces. Kim’s sister said Tuesday that Pyongyang would not compromise on the nuclear issue and that any future talks with Washington would be predicated on the US recognizing North Korea as a nuclear state, something which has historically been a red line for Washington. “Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state … will be thoroughly rejected,” she said, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Trump earlier this year seem to acknowledge Kim’s nuclear program, calling North Korea a “big nuclear nation.”

Full report : Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister says talks with US possible if Washington drops denuclearization demand.