Kim Jong-un's sister says 'no need' for another US-N Korea summit

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said there was "no need" for another summit with the United States unless Washington offered a "decisive change" in approach.

Kim Yo Jong -- who has emerged as one of her brother's closest advisers -- said: "There is no need for us to sit across with the US right now."

If a summit was held, she said, "it is too obvious that it will only be used as boring boasting coming from someone's pride".

Kim and US President Donald Trump first met in Singapore two years ago but talks over Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal have been stalled since their Hanoi summit collapsed in early 2019.

Trump said this week he would "certainly" meet with Kim again if he thought it was going to be helpful.

Denuclearisation, Kim Yo Jong added, was "not possible at this point", and could only happen alongside parallel "irreversible simultaneous major steps" by the other side.

Pyongyang insists that it needs its nuclear arsenal to deter against a possible US invasion.

Kim Yo Jong's statement was only her personal view, she said.

Kim Jong-un declared in December an end to moratoriums on nuclear and ballistic missile tests, and Pyongyang has repeatedly said it has no intention to continue talks unless Washington drops what it describes as "hostile" policies towards the North.

Washington stations 28,500 troops in the South to defend it against its neighbour, and has a range of military assets in Japan and the wider Pacific region.