Article Author:
Associated Press
Kim Tong-hyung
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AP) — The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says her country has South Korean President Yoon Seok. Yeol's "silly" offer to obtain economic benefits in exchange for denuclearization measures it says it will never accept accuses South Korea of reusing past offers that North Korea has already rejected.
In a commentary published in the Friday edition of North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun, Kim Yo Jong said he would not give up his nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs for economic cooperation. Stated. She calls for improved bilateral relations, criticizing South Korea's military exercises with the United States and its inability to stop civilian activists from flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and other material across the border.
She also mocked South Korea's military capabilities, saying South Korea launched its latest missile test on Wednesday. He said he misread the location. That was hours before Yun urged him to return to Pyongyang at a press conference. to diplomacy.
Kim Yo-jong's newspaper column came after she threatened "lethal" reprisals against South Korea over the recent COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea, which It allegedly was caused by leaflets and other "filth" dropped from a balloon that was launched. by Southern activists.
Yoon, in a nationally televised address on Monday, proposed a "bold" economic aid package for North Korea if it takes steps to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. . Offers of massive aid for food and health care, power generation systems and the modernization of seaports and airports were not meaningfully different from previous South Korean offers that were rejected by North Korea. Best survival guarantee.
"Yoon Suk-yeol's 'Bold Plan' is the ultimate proof of folly, as real as trying to dry up the deep blue sea to grow mulberry fields. is," she said. "I don't know if he understands that 'if North Korea takes steps to denuclearize' is itself a false assumption."
In exchange for disarmament measures. Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated amid a major nuclear stalemate between North Korea and the United States that derailed in early 2019 due to disagreements over the easing of U.S.-led economic sanctions against North Korea.
There are concerns that Kim Yo-jong's threats over last week's leaflets portend provocations that may include nuclear and missile tests and even border skirmishes. Tensions could rise further as the United States and South Korea begin next week's largest joint exercise in years to counter the North Korean threat. North Korea describes such drills as rehearsals for aggression and has often responded with missile tests and other provocations.
North Korea is accelerating its missile tests at a record pace in 2022 and has so far launched more than 30 ballistic weapons, including It also includes her first intercontinental ballistic missile in nearly five years.
Increased nuclear test activity has forced North Korea to accept its view as a nuclear power, allowing it to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of power. experts said, underscoring North Korea's dual intent to Say.
If there are any signs that North Korea is preparing to conduct its first nuclear test since he claimed in September 2017 that he had developed a thermonuclear weapon that could be mounted on an ICBM, Kim Jong Un could raise the stakes soon.
