North Korea reaffirms its status as nuclear-armed state

SEOUL- Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said North Korea will never back down on its status as a nuclear-armed state, warning that it will not tolerate any threats, state media agency KCNA said on Thursday.

Chinese ​President Xi Jinping is set to visit North Korea on Monday for a summit, marking his first visit to the North in nearly seven years as ‌Beijing looks to reinforce ties with Pyongyang, China's only formal treaty ally.

Kim Yo Jong called U.S. claims that Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed a goal to denuclearize during a May summit "false," adding that it "has the most accurate information" regarding the claims.

"The policy of continuously strengthening self-defensive nuclear war deterrence, as declared by the head of state, is an irreversible and final conclusion that must be executed unconditionally," she said.

Early this week, North Korea unveiled a new nuclear material production factory where its leader Kim called for an "exponential" expansion of the country's atomic ‌arsenal.

Analysts said the new uranium-enrichment site appeared aimed at reinforcing North Korea’s negotiating position ahead of the Xi-Kim summit while justifying an acceleration of its nuclear build-up.

Kim Jong Un also visited a major munitions factory and ordered the country's missile production capacity to be increased 2.5 times over the next five years, Yonhap News Agency said on Sunday, citing North Korea's state newspaper, The Rodong Sinmun.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Sebin Choi; Editing by Edmund Klamann, Rod Nickel)