North Korea Calls US Denuclearization Push an 'Anachronistic Dream' Ahead of Visit by China's Xi Jinping

North Korea said Sunday it will continue expanding its nuclear arsenal and dismissed renewed U.S. calls for denuclearization as an "anachronistic dream," as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepared to visit Pyongyang for his first trip there in nearly seven years.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said the country's status as a nuclear weapons state was irreversible and accused Washington of spreading "false information" after the White House said President Donald Trump and Xi had reaffirmed a shared goal of denuclearizing North Korea during talks in Beijing last month.

"The U.S. assertion to backbite the status of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state has no legally binding force," Kim Yo Jong said in remarks carried by state media KCNA and reported by The Associated Press. "Some officials in the United States have failed to wake from their escapist and anachronistic dream."

Her comments came days after Kim Jong Un unveiled what analysts identified as a new uranium-enrichment facility and vowed to expand the country's nuclear forces "at an exponential rate." State media images appeared to show a centrifuge hall used for enriching weapons-grade uranium, though North Korea did not disclose the plant's location.

Kim also visited a weapons factory over the weekend and ordered missile production capacity to increase 2.5 times over the next five years, according to North Korean state media.

The statements underscore Pyongyang's increasingly defiant stance since nuclear talks between Kim and Trump collapsed in 2019 without an agreement on sanctions relief or disarmament. Since then, North Korea has accelerated both weapons development and legal measures reinforcing its nuclear status.

According to DW, North Korea amended its constitution in 2023 to formalize its "nuclear force-building policy," while South Korean intelligence said earlier this year that Pyongyang had adopted an "automatic nuclear launch" policy if its leadership or command structure comes under attack.

U.S. intelligence assessments released this year concluded that North Korea's missile and nuclear capabilities are growing in "size and sophistication," including the development of hypersonic missiles and multiple-warhead systems capable of targeting the continental United States.

Analysts say Xi's visit is expected to focus less on denuclearization and more on strengthening Beijing's influence over Pyongyang as North Korea deepens military and economic ties with Russia amid the war in Ukraine.