By KIM TONG-HYUNG
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ’s powerful sister yet again taunted South Korean efforts to improve ties, state media reported Wednesday, saying that her country will never accept Seoul as a diplomatic partner.
Kim Yo Jong’s remarks fit a longstanding pattern of aggressive language during ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drills, which the North has long denounced as invasion rehearsals, but also reflect a shift in Pyongyang’s approach to its rival.
Her brother has shifted his focus to Moscow, and last year declared that North Korea was abandoning long-standing goals of a peaceful unification with South Korea. He ordered the constitution rewritten to declare the South a permanent enemy.
Kim Yo Jong spurns feelers from new South Korean government
Since the collapse of a 2019 summit with U.S. President Donald Trump during his first term, Kim Jong Un doubled down on his nuclear ambitions while embracing the idea of a “new Cold War.”
In Seoul, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, after taking office in 2022, responded by expanding military drills with Washington and Tokyo and seeking stronger assurances of U.S. nuclear deterrence.
But South Korea’s new liberal President Lee Jae Myung, who replaced Yoon after he was removed from office in disgrace, has pushed to revive dialogue between the Koreas since taking office in June. He’s extended olive branches like ending cross-border propaganda broadcasts that irritate Pyongyang.
Lee said in a speech Friday that said his government respects North Korea’s current system and “will not pursue any form of unification by absorption and has no intention of engaging in hostile acts.”
But Kim Yo Jong claimed Seoul’s peace gestures conceal a “sinister intention” to blame Pyongyang for strained relations. She said the “reckless” South Korea-U.S. military drills as a proof of Seoul’s hostility, state media said Wednesday.
Kim told Foreign Ministry officials during a Tuesday meeting that reconciliation with the South would never happen, and urged them to pursue “proper countermeasures” against Seoul, which she labeled the “most hostile state” and a “faithful dog” of the U.S.
Once regarded by the North as a useful go-between for extracting concessions from Washington, South Korea is now viewed in Pyongyang as a regional obstacle to its attempts to carve out a larger role in world affairs.
In response to Kim Yo Jong’s latest comments, South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said Lee’s government will continue to take “proactive steps for peace” and called for mutual respect between the countries.
Kim Dong-yub, a professor at South Korea’s University of North Korean Studies, said Kim Yo Jong’s latest remarks were a response to Lee’s speech, “essentially bolting the door shut.”
On Monday, Kim Jong Un also criticized the South Korean-U.S. military drills and vowed a rapid expansion of his nuclear forces as he inspected his most advanced warship being fitted with nuclear-capable systems.
Pyongyang sees opportunity
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine created an opportunity to draw closer to Moscow, which he has supplied with thousands of troops and large supplies of military equipment.
With its alignment with Russia deepening, North Korea has also become more vocal in international affairs beyond the Korean Peninsula, issuing statements on conflicts in the Middle East and issues related to the Taiwan Strait.
During Tuesday’s foreign policy meeting, Kim Yo Jong implied that Pyongyang seeks to compete with Seoul diplomatically, claiming the South “will not even have a subordinate role in the regional diplomatic arena,” which she insisted will be centered on the North.
KIM TONG-HYUNG
Kim has been covering the Koreas for the AP since 2014. He has published widely read stories on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, the dark side of South Korea’s economic rise and international adoptions of Korean children.
