North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui on Thursday rejected a joint call by the United States, South Korea and Japan for Pyongyang to denuclearize and return to dialogue, saying the country remains “unchanged in its will to keep nuclear weapons forever.”

In a statement released through the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Choe said she wished to “reaffirm and reconfirm in the strongest tone of voice” North Korea’s will to keep nuclear weapons “through all ages.”

“To deny the reality is to give up the future,” she said.

Choe’s statement comes three days after U.S. Secretary of