North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson says North Korea's nuclear weapons are absolute guarantee of sovereignty and will continue to be strengthened, according to KCNA

Statements of this kind through state media are a recurring feature of the North Korean playbook and have historically functioned as positioning rather than new information: reaffirming the nuclear programme as non-negotiable has been the standard baseline ahead of, and in place of, any diplomatic engagement. The distinction that has mattered in past episodes is between doctrinal rhetoric of this sort, which markets have learned to fade, and escalatory actions such as missile tests or weapons demonstrations, which are what have actually moved regional risk premia, Korean assets, the yen and gold. The language here, blaming Washington's hostile policy and dismissing prospects for tension relief, reads as a signal that no diplomatic track is active rather than as a step up in posture. Worth noting is the messenger: a Foreign Ministry spokesperson via KCNA sits at the lower end of the authority scale, and statements attributed to the leadership itself have historically carried more weight. The follow-ons that have tended to matter are any shift to military channels, satellite or test activity, and how Seoul, Tokyo and Washington respond in kind. Absent an action component, episodes of this type have generally passed through markets quickly.