South Korea said it will never recognize North Korea as a nuclear state, repeating recent remarks from the Biden administration amid ongoing debate about the merits of a nuclear arms control deal with Pyongyang.

This comes just hours after the North Korean leader’s powerful sister Kim Yo Jong issued a statement mocking the South for having “parroted” the U.S. by considering more unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang.

“We can never agree to the idea of nuclear arms control negotiation, as you’d know it well,” said defense ministry spokesperson Moon Hong-shik on Thursday in response to a question from a reporter who