North Korea rejected South Korea’s “ridiculous” offer of a “largescale” economic package if it agreed to suspend its nuclear programme, asking South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to “shut his mouth”.
In an official press release published on Friday, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, asked Yoon to not “have an absurd dream.” She added that it “would have been more favourable” for Yoon’s image if he had “shut his mouth” instead of “talking nonsense,” because “he had nothing better to say.”
Referring to Yoon’s drop in approval ratings, Kim said that in such a situation, “it would have been better if he had never presented himself on that occasion.” She clarified that she was making the remark only because the South seemed “very eager to know of (the North’s) reaction” and not because she was “concerned” about Yoon’s “situation.” She added that Yoon had been “unable to say anything (in his speech) that would save his dignity.” “Dogs will always bark, as a pup or an adult, and the same goes for the one with the title of president,” she remarked.
Kim, who is also the vice department director of the Central Committee of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), noted that “the most repulsive” and “absurd point” of the South Korean president’s speech was when he proposed a “bold and broad-based plan” that he claimed would “radically improve” North Korea’s economy and public welfare if it halted its nuclear development plans. She added that he “seemed to have gone through a lot of troubles” to “pretend” to have a plan on improving bilateral relations.
She further elaborated on Yoon’s proposal by saying that it was as impractical as trying “to create mulberry fields in the dark blue ocean.” “He disregarded [North Korea’s] attitude towards the plan. I could not but be stunned by his “bravery” and excessive ignorance,” Kim stated.
The leader further noted that all of the South’s previous leaders, along with “their master,” the United States, had “failed to make the North abandon nukes.” Keeping this in mind, she said Yoon’s “pipedream-like remarks” had made him look “miserable.” Kim called Pyongyang’s nuclear programme “an honour” and said it could “not be bartered.” “To think that the plan to barter economic cooperation for our honor, nukes, is the great dream, hope and plan of Yoon, we came to realise that he is really simple and still childish. No one barters its destiny for corn cake,” she asserted.
North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, has firmly rejected a South Korean offer to help boost the isolated country’s economy if it gives up nuclear weapons.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) August 19, 2022
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Kim also advised the South “to mind [its] own business” and refrain from talking about their issues. She also accused Yoon of talking about a “bold plan today” but staging “anti-North war exercises tomorrow.” Her comment came in reference to South Korea’s defence ministry confirming on Tuesday that its military is set to resume the long-suspended live field training during its joint military drills with the US, which will be held from August 22 to September 1.
She declared that North Korea does not “like” Yoon Suk-yeol and would refuse to negotiate with his government.
Kim’s comments come after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said in a speech celebrating the 77th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula’s independence from Japanese colonisation on Monday that he had an “audacious initiative” to “significantly improve North Korea’s economy and its people’s livelihoods.”
Yoon said Seoul would “implement a large-scale food program; provide assistance for power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure; and carry out projects to modernise ports and airports for international trade.” “We will also help enhance North Korea’s agricultural productivity, offer assistance to modernise hospitals and medical infrastructure, and implement international investment and financial support initiatives,” the president added.
He stressed, however, that Pyongyang must “cease the development of its nuclear programme” and embark on “a genuine and substantive process for denuclearisation.”
In response to Kim’s comments, Seoul on Friday expressed “its deep regret” over the “very disrespectful and indecent criticism” of Yoon.
This latest exchange of comments comes against the backdrop of North Korea testing two cruise missiles on Wednesday. Cruise missiles are not part of the United Nations’ test bans on the country. However, both the US and South Korea have warned that the Kim Jong-un administration has already completed preparations to carry out a seventh nuclear test, the country’s first since 2017. North Korea has already launched over 30 missiles this year, including six Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
Kim clarified that the latest missile test was conducted on the Kumsong Bridge in the city of Anju in the North’s South Phyongan province, and not in the Onchon area as South Korean authorities had falsely and “rashly” reported. She added that if the cruise missile’s data and flight trajectory came to light, the South would be “bewildered and afraid,” which would“be a thing worthy of seeing.”