▲ This file photo, taken Feb. 10, 2018, is of Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister. (Yonhap)

(ATTN: ADDS unification ministry's response in last 6 paras)

SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Thursday rejected international calls for denuclearization as "all noises," calling the regime's nuclear status "absolute."

She made the remarks in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as the 70th regular session of the IAEA General Conference is currently under way in Vienna, Austria.

The conference has voiced concern over North Korea's expanding nuclear capacity, urging Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner in compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Ahead of the session, the agency also released the IAEA Director General's Safeguards Report on North Korea, detailing a substantial increase in Pyongyang's uranium enrichment capacity and the expansion of its core nuclear facilities.

The North Korean leader's sister dismissed the calls as "all noises, not surprising and not new."

"No matter how desperately the IAEA and the West may hold periodic meetings and talk about the denuclearization according to the fixed scenario, they can have no effect on the will and ability of the DPRK to take all necessary measures to defend the supreme interests of the state," she said. DPRK is short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

"The DPRK's position as a nuclear weapons state is absolute which cannot reverse with anything," she argued, adding, "The reality in which the nuclear position of the DPRK has been permanently settled physically and legally cannot change even a bit.

"No one and nothing can ever reverse the crucial changes in the strength and position of the DPRK and prevent them in the future, too."

A South Korean unification ministry official said the ministry is "taking note" of Kim's remarks, against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump having expressed interest in a summit with the North Korean leader.

The ministry is said to have assessed Kim's statement as an attempt to make clear to Washington that denuclearization is off the table for any potential summit.

North Korea, meanwhile, has continued to respond to developments involving its weapons programs and security issues in the region.

The latest came Wednesday night, when a spokesperson for its defense ministry denounced recent talks between South Korea and the U.S. on countering its weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

At the annual Combined WMD Countermeasures Committee meeting last Thursday, Seoul and Washington agreed to strengthen information sharing on North Korea's WMD, as Pyongyang continues to advance its nuclear and missile capabilities.

Wednesday's statement marked the North's first response to the director-level consultative body, which the two allies launched in 2017, according to the official.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]