DPRK Kim Yo-jong’s Comment “Yoon Suk-yeol, Those Fools” Draws a Fierce Response from the South Korean Government
이 글자크기로 변경됩니다.
(예시) 가장 빠른 뉴스가 있고 다양한 정보, 쌍방향 소통이 숨쉬는 다음뉴스를 만나보세요. 다음뉴스는 국내외 주요이슈와 실시간 속보, 문화생활 및 다양한 분야의 뉴스를 입체적으로 전달하고 있습니다.
Kim Yo-jong (pictured), a deputy director in the Workers’ Party of Korea and also the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, protested South Korea’s separate sanctions against North Korea on November 24 and spoke harshly against President Yoon Suk-yeol. The South Korean government fiercely criticized her remarks claiming it was like “a thief trying to give a scolding.”
In a statement released by the Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, Deputy Director Kim said, “On November 22, those in the South Korean foreign ministry called the exercise of our right to self-defense a ‘provocation’ and used it as an excuse to rattle that they were reviewing additional sanctions of their own,” and criticized it as “disgusting and shameful behavior by the South Koreans, who recited every word the U.S. had said as soon as the U.S. mentioned separate sanctions against North Korea.”
Kim Yo-jong said she had no idea why the South Korean people were just watching the government when “Yoon Suk-yeol and those fools entered office and kept creating risky situations,” and added, “When Moon Jae-in was in office, at least our target wasn’t Seoul.”
She further said, “The more the United States and the South Korean underlings desperately hang on to sanctions, the more they will fuel our hostility and rage, and it will end up a trap that squeezes their necks.”
Kim Yo-jong’s statement was released two days after the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) fiercely attacked the U.S. for leading the international community to condemn North Korea’s launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles at the UN Security Council on November 22.
This time, she aimed at South Korea, promoting sanctions of its own against the North, and made blunt remarks on President Yoon. Kim had said, “We just hate Yoon Suk-yeol as a human being” in August, after the president proposed a “bold initiative” to North Korea.
In Thursday’s statement, Kim hinted at her intention to use sanctions against North Korea as an excuse after the ROK-US joint military exercises, which the North had used as an excuse for its provocations, did not proceed in a visibly significant way.
Experts mentioned the possibility of North Korea launching additional intercontinental ballistic missiles and conducting a seventh nuclear test in time for the fifth anniversary of Chairman Kim’s declaration of the “completion of the state nuclear force” on November 29. In the statement released on Tuesday, Kim Yo-jong suggested a “super-strong response to the end.”
Kim’s criticism that the South Korean people were just watching Yoon Suk-yeol and his “idiot” government appears to be an attempt to trigger internal conflict in the South.
Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha Woman’s University, spoke on Kim’s claim that at least in the previous government, Seoul was not the North’s target and said, “She confirmed once again that South Korea was the target of a nuclear strike.” Any easing of the hardline versus hardline confrontation between the two Koreas does not seem likely for now as Kim Yo-jong publicly disclosed her strong hostility towards President Yoon in the statement Thursday.
The Ministry of Unification released a statement expressing “strong regret” on Kim’s remarks, which tried to blame South Korea, and described her attitude as “a thief trying to do the scolding,” The ministry also said, “We fiercely condemn any foul attempt to instigate anti-government protests and threaten our system.”
In a regular press briefing, Lim Soo-suk, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, “We are continuing to review further sanctions against North Korea,” and added, “The sensitive response from North Korea shows that our efforts to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program is having a considerable impact on the North Korean regime.”
Copyright © 경향신문. 무단전재 및 재배포 금지.
- “일 못 하면 교체” 이재명 발언 비판에…김민석 “한동훈, 일반론을 탄핵론으로 왜곡”
- 불꽃축제에 열광한 ‘불꽃 민폐’···주거지 침입에 불법 주·정차까지
- [스경X이슈] 팬미팅 앞둔 지연-준PO 한창인 황재균, 스타커플 최악의 ‘이혼 아웃팅’
- [단독] ‘김건희 논문 의혹’ 증인들, 국감 앞서 출국…요양·가정사 이유 불출석도
- 팔 스쳤다고···4세 아이 얼굴 ‘퍽’, 할머니 팔 깨물었다
- 이 녀석 죽이려고 63억 썼는데···“이런 지독한 놈은 처음”
- “5만원에 성매매 기록 알려줄게”…유흥탐정 집행유예
- 한동훈, 금투세 당론 지도부에 일임한 민주당에 “못난 모습”
- 싱가포르에 무슨 일이? 현대차·기아 판매량 2배 늘어
- 윤 대통령 “북한, 미국 관심 끌려고 핵실험·ICBM 발사 가능성”