PYONGYANG — Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday rejected Seoul’s offer of economic aid in exchange for denuclearization measures, calling it “the height of absurdity.”
The statement follows South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who this week unveiled a ‘bold’ relief plan that would include food, energy and infrastructure aid in return for the North abandoning its weapons program nuclear.
Analysts have previously said the chances of Pyongyang agreeing to such a deal – first unveiled during Yoon’s inaugural speech – are extremely slim as the North, which invests much of its GDP in weapons programs, has long made it clear that it would not do this trade.
Yo Jong on Friday called Yoon’s offer “the height of absurdity”, adding that the whole premise that the North might voluntarily lay down its nuclear program is false.
“Thinking that the plan to exchange ‘economic cooperation’ for our honor, (our) nuclear weapons, is Yoon’s big dream, hope and plan, we realized that it was really simple and still childish. “, she said in a statement from the official Korean Central News Agency.
“We make it clear that we will not sit across from him,” she added, saying “no one is trading their fate for corn cake.”
She further accused the South of recycling earlier proposals that the North had already rejected, comparing Yoon to a barking dog.
South Korea’s presidential office expressed “strong regret” over Yo Jong’s “rude” remarks, but added that the economic aid offer stood.
“North Korea’s stance is in no way conducive to the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and its own future, and only furthers isolation from the international community,” the statement said.
PYONGYANG READY TO MOBILIZE
Last week, Pyongyang warned it will “eliminate” authorities in Seoul over a recent outbreak of COVID-19, a threat that came less than a month after Kim Jong Un said his country was “ready to demonstrate its nuclear capabilities in any war” with the United States and the South.
Yoon said Wednesday that his government did not plan to pursue its own nuclear deterrent, even though Pyongyang tested two cruise missiles on the same day.
Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, said Yo Jong’s statement on Friday “confirmed unequivocally” that Pyongyang would never give up its nuclear weapons.
As a result, the Yoon government’s policy on North Korea’s denuclearization will inevitably require “substantial overhaul”, was quoted by AFP.
“The weight of North Korean nuclear threats that South Korea has to live with has already exceeded what it can bear,” he said.
North Korea has conducted a record campaign of weapons testing this year, including firing an ICBM at full range for the first time since 2017.
Officials in Washington and South Korea have repeatedly warned that the North is preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test.
- Editor / Korean Central News Agency / AFP
