I know people have already posted this, but it was confirmed in a digital bits interview a few months ago: (https://tr.im/1c09C)
"We’ve essentially confirmed that Disney’s current 4K scan of the film is the most recent revised version (essentially the latest “special edition”), not the original theatrical edition. What’s more, Disney’s director of Library Restoration and Preservation, Theo Gluck, held a special event at Ohio State University’s Wexner Center for the Arts last night, a presentation called Animation Restoration at Walt Disney Studios. Gluck was asked there about Star Wars and reported that the original cut negative for the film currently exists in its “SE” configuration only."
When asked if there were any plans for an OT restoration, the answer was no:
"Disney’s director of Library Restoration and Preservation Theo Gluck, and 20th Century Fox’s Senior VP of Library and Tech Services Shawn Belston have confirmed to the outlet that no such work on a reconstruction has begun."
https://tr.im/1c09CMore recently, about 16 minutes into this interview, Kathleen Kennedy seems to rule it out:
https://omny.fm/shows/steele-wars/ep-131-3-star-wars-celebration-orlando-day-2-the-lSo, it looks like the will just isn’t there.
That LRM article is misleading. Because Nowhere in the original digital bits article did Bill Hunt quote the Disney guy as saying that there was no reconstruction effort going on. They never addressed that specifically during the event. That was just Bill Hunt speculating, and that article states Bill’s speculation as fact.
I’ve actually talked to Bill Hunt about it. He doesn’t know anything or at least he didn’t when that article was written. It was all speculation.
Also on the Kathleen Kennedy interview. That audio clip you posted is heavily edited. Watch the unedited video. It’s obvious that she initially has no idea what he is talking about, and then he actually specifies at the end about making changes to the “special editions” to which she replies that she wouldn’t touch those.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZO0_yYvmxo
Now all that being said, do I believe they have plans to release it? No, not really. I will be pretty shocked if it actually happens this year or in the near future. But there hasn’t been any definitive statement yet from someone at Disney/Lucasfilm that rules it out.