Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. File. North Korea dismisses Seoul’s aid-for-disarmament offer
Kim Jong Un's sister stated that North Korea will never accept Yoon Suk Yeol's "foolish" offer of economic rewards in exchange for denuclearization measures, accusing Seoul of rehashing ideas Pyongyang had already rejected.
Kim Yo Jong emphasised in a statement released by state media on Friday that her nation has no aspirations of giving up its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes in exchange for economic cooperation, stating "no one barters its destiny for corn cake."
She questioned the sincerity of South Korea's appeals for better bilateral ties when it maintains joint military drills with the US and does nothing to stop citizens from flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and other forms of "dirty waste" across their border.
Continue reading: South Korean President: Talks with North Korea must be more than just a show
She also mocked South Korea's military prowess, claiming that it misjudged the location of the North's most recent missile test on Wednesday, hours before Mr. Yoon used a press conference to call on Pyongyang to resume diplomatic relations.
The Unification Ministry of South Korea, which is in charge of inter-Korean relations, voiced "deep regret" over Kim Yo Jong's remarks, which it claimed were insulting to President Yoon Suk Yeol and reiterated the North's willingness to keep working on nuclear weapons.
In addition to endangering the stability of the Korean Peninsula, Lee Hyo-jung, a ministry spokesperson, warned that North Korea's behaviour will make matters worse for the country's economic and international isolation.
In response to the COVID-19 epidemic in the North, which the North dubiously alleges was brought on by pamphlets and other items dropped from balloons launched by southern activists, Kim Yo Jong this week promised "deadly" vengeance against the South.
In an address that was broadcast nationwide on Monday, Mr. Yoon suggested giving North Korea a "audacious" economic aid package in exchange for giving up its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. The North previously rejected South Korean proposals, hastening the development of an arsenal that Kim Jong Un views as his best chance of survival. The offers of massive assistance in the areas of food and health care, as well as modernising electricity generation systems, seaports, and airports, were not noticeably different from those earlier South Korean proposals.
"Height of ridiculousness"
One of her brother's most prominent officials, Kim Yo Jong, who is in charge of inter-Korean matters, declared that Mr. Yoon's offer was as unrealistic as planting "mulberry fields in the midnight blue ocean," calling it the "height of foolishness."
She emphasised Pyongyang has no quick plans to restart the long-stalled diplomatic relations with Seoul and claimed South Korea's words and deeds would only stir "surging anger and rage" from North Koreans. We sincerely want to live apart from one another, she remarked.
Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated as bigger nuclear talks between North Korea and the U.S. have stalled due to differences over easing the North's punishing sanctions in exchange for disarmament measures. These talks broke down in 2019 due to these differences.
There are worries that Kim Yo Jong's comments from the previous week on the leafleting foreshadow a provocation, which might involve a nuclear or missile test or perhaps border hostilities. To confront the danger posed by North Korea, the United States and South Korea will begin their most extensive joint training in years next week. Such exercises are referred to as invasion rehearsals by the North, which frequently responds to them by conducting missile testing or other provocations.
Mr. Yoon voiced optimism for a fruitful conversation with the North regarding his aid-for-disarmament plan during the news conference on Wednesday. Mr. Yoon said his government has no ambitions to develop its own nuclear deterrent and does not want political change in Pyongyang that has been imposed by force. He maintained a quiet demeanour throughout.
Record number of nuclear tests by North Korea
Mr. Yoon stated after South Korea's military had determined that North Korea had launched two suspected cruise missiles into the ocean from the western coastal site of Onchon. In her editorial, Kim Yo Jong mocked the abilities of South Korea and the United States to track North Korean missile activities and claimed that the weapons were shot from a bridge in the city of Anju, north of Onchon and farther inland. The military of the South has not yet made public the analysis of those missiles' flight data.
"The South will be so perplexed and terrified if the data and flight trajectory (of the missiles) are known," Kim Yo Jong added. It will be interesting to watch how they would explain it to their audience.
The most recent launches continued North Korea's record-breaking pace of missile testing in 2022, which included more than 30 ballistic launches, including the nation's first intercontinental ballistic missile displays in in five years.
According to observers, North Korea's increased testing activity demonstrates its dual goals of developing its arsenal and getting the United States to recognise it as a nuclear state so it can negotiate security and economic concessions from a position of strength.
Indications point to the North preparing to conduct its first nuclear test since September 2017, when it claimed to have constructed a thermonuclear warhead to fit atop its ICBMs. Kim Jong Un may soon step up the ante.
Kim Yo Jong emphasised in a statement released by state media on Friday that her nation has no aspirations of giving up its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes in exchange for economic cooperation, stating "no one barters its destiny for corn cake."
She questioned the sincerity of South Korea's appeals for better bilateral ties when it maintains joint military drills with the US and does nothing to stop citizens from flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and other forms of "dirty waste" across their border.
Continue reading: South Korean President: Talks with North Korea must be more than just a show
She also mocked South Korea's military prowess, claiming that it misjudged the location of the North's most recent missile test on Wednesday, hours before Mr. Yoon used a press conference to call on Pyongyang to resume diplomatic relations.
The Unification Ministry of South Korea, which is in charge of inter-Korean relations, voiced "deep regret" over Kim Yo Jong's remarks, which it claimed were insulting to President Yoon Suk Yeol and reiterated the North's willingness to keep working on nuclear weapons.
In addition to endangering the stability of the Korean Peninsula, Lee Hyo-jung, a ministry spokesperson, warned that North Korea's behaviour will make matters worse for the country's economic and international isolation.
In response to the COVID-19 epidemic in the North, which the North dubiously alleges was brought on by pamphlets and other items dropped from balloons launched by southern activists, Kim Yo Jong this week promised "deadly" vengeance against the South.
In an address that was broadcast nationwide on Monday, Mr. Yoon suggested giving North Korea a "audacious" economic aid package in exchange for giving up its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. The North previously rejected South Korean proposals, hastening the development of an arsenal that Kim Jong Un views as his best chance of survival. The offers of massive assistance in the areas of food and health care, as well as modernising electricity generation systems, seaports, and airports, were not noticeably different from those earlier South Korean proposals.
"Height of ridiculousness"
One of her brother's most prominent officials, Kim Yo Jong, who is in charge of inter-Korean matters, declared that Mr. Yoon's offer was as unrealistic as planting "mulberry fields in the midnight blue ocean," calling it the "height of foolishness."
She emphasised Pyongyang has no quick plans to restart the long-stalled diplomatic relations with Seoul and claimed South Korea's words and deeds would only stir "surging anger and rage" from North Koreans. We sincerely want to live apart from one another, she remarked.
Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated as bigger nuclear talks between North Korea and the U.S. have stalled due to differences over easing the North's punishing sanctions in exchange for disarmament measures. These talks broke down in 2019 due to these differences.
There are worries that Kim Yo Jong's comments from the previous week on the leafleting foreshadow a provocation, which might involve a nuclear or missile test or perhaps border hostilities. To confront the danger posed by North Korea, the United States and South Korea will begin their most extensive joint training in years next week. Such exercises are referred to as invasion rehearsals by the North, which frequently responds to them by conducting missile testing or other provocations.
Mr. Yoon voiced optimism for a fruitful conversation with the North regarding his aid-for-disarmament plan during the news conference on Wednesday. Mr. Yoon said his government has no ambitions to develop its own nuclear deterrent and does not want political change in Pyongyang that has been imposed by force. He maintained a quiet demeanour throughout.
Record number of nuclear tests by North Korea
Mr. Yoon stated after South Korea's military had determined that North Korea had launched two suspected cruise missiles into the ocean from the western coastal site of Onchon. In her editorial, Kim Yo Jong mocked the abilities of South Korea and the United States to track North Korean missile activities and claimed that the weapons were shot from a bridge in the city of Anju, north of Onchon and farther inland. The military of the South has not yet made public the analysis of those missiles' flight data.
"The South will be so perplexed and terrified if the data and flight trajectory (of the missiles) are known," Kim Yo Jong added. It will be interesting to watch how they would explain it to their audience.
The most recent launches continued North Korea's record-breaking pace of missile testing in 2022, which included more than 30 ballistic launches, including the nation's first intercontinental ballistic missile displays in in five years.
According to observers, North Korea's increased testing activity demonstrates its dual goals of developing its arsenal and getting the United States to recognise it as a nuclear state so it can negotiate security and economic concessions from a position of strength.
Indications point to the North preparing to conduct its first nuclear test since September 2017, when it claimed to have constructed a thermonuclear warhead to fit atop its ICBMs. Kim Jong Un may soon step up the ante.
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