The deputy head of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and sister of North Korean leader Kim Yo Jong said that Seoul cannot be a partner in diplomatic dialogue for Pyongyang, Korean media reported on Wednesday.
At a meeting with the heads of the main departments of the Foreign Ministry, Kim Yo Jong discussed the “reconciliation offensive” of the administration of South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae-myung.
“Recently, Seoul has expressed the position that it will respect our system, refrain from any form of unification through absorption, and does not intend to take any hostile actions, as if the Republic of Korea’s policy toward the DPRK is undergoing a “sharp turn,” Kim Yo Jong said.
However, in her opinion, the South Korean authorities’ policy towards the DPRK remains unchanged.
“The Lee Jae-myung administration, which is currently conducting reckless and aggressive military exercises by the US and the Republic of Korea that directly threaten the security of the DPRK, is repeating the words of its predecessors about “defensive exercises.” This clearly shows the double standards of the Seoul authorities, who think one thing and say another, Kim Yo Jong noted. Based on this, she said, Seoul “cannot be a diplomatic partner” of Pyongyang.
The annual joint military exercises of the South Korean and US armed forces, Ulchi Freedom Shield 25 (UFS), are scheduled for August 18-28. They will involve 21,000 soldiers, including 18,000 from South Korea.
In early June, Lee Jae-myung, the candidate of the Democratic Party Toburo, won the presidential election in South Korea. He received 48.43% of the vote. The election was held after the resignation and arrest of the previous president, Yoon Suk Yeol, for attempting to impose martial law in response to the actions of the opposition parliament.
In the same month, Seoul stopped propaganda broadcasts via loudspeakers on the border with North Korea in connection with the announced new political course towards Pyongyang. The decision was made “as part of efforts to fulfil the promise to restore inter-Korean trust and peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
