N Korean to decide in September on declaring S Korea an ‘enemy’.
Seoul, Aug 20 (EFE).
Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused South Korean President Lee Jae-myung of promoting a “pipedream” and said Pyongyang has no intention of improving ties with Seoul, state news agency KCNA reported Wednesday.
“Lee Jae-myung is not the type of person to change the course of history,” Kim said Tuesday at a consultative meeting of director-generals at the North Korean Foreign Ministry.
In a gesture of de-escalation on Tuesday, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said the administration, which took power in June, would continue to send offers of peace and dialogue, although he said defensive military exercises would continue.
Kim Yo Jong, who serves as a vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, argued that regardless of which party governs in South Korea, the ambition to confront Pyongyang has continued. She added that this was the case under the previous administrations of liberal Moon Jae-in and conservative Yoon Suk-yeol.
In an unusual move, Kim referred to Lee and the two former presidents by name. She also directly criticized Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back.
“We clearly remember that Cho and Ahn openly said when they were nominated that they regarded the North Korean regime and military as their enemies,” Kim said.
She also denounced the key policies presented to the National Assembly by Unification Minister Chung Dong-young.
Echoing the North Korean leader’s statements published Tuesday, the official condemned the joint Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercises that South Korea and the United States are conducting until Aug. 28.
Notably, she also condemned South Korean authorities for supporting Seoul and Washington’s OPLAN 5022, an operations plan that includes contingency scenarios related to the North’s denuclearization.
Kim Yo Jong’s explicit rejection comes after President Lee Jae-myung promised last week not to seek unification by absorption and proposed resuming the 2018 inter-Korean military agreements.
