Kim Jong Un’s sister rejects outreach by South Korea’s new president

SEOUL South Korea AP The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rebuffed overtures by South Korea s new liberal regime saying Monday that its blind trust in the country s alliance with the U S and hostility toward North Korea make it no different from its conservative predecessor Kim Yo Jong s comments imply that North Korea now preoccupied with its expanding cooperation with Russia sees no need to resume diplomacy with South Korea and the U S anytime soon Experts say she likely hopes to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington We clarify once again the official stand that no matter what approach is adopted and whatever proposal is made in Seoul we have no interest in it and there is neither a reason to meet nor an issue to be discussed Kim Yo Jong mentioned in a declaration carried by state media It s North Korea s first official message on the governing body of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung which took office in early June with a promise to improve badly frayed ties with North Korea Lee s ruling body has halted anti-Pyongyang frontline loudspeaker broadcasts taken procedures to ban activists from flying balloons with propaganda leaflets across the frontier and repatriated North Koreans who were drifted south in wooden boats months earlier North Korea complains of South Korea-US military drills North Korea has shunned talks with South Korea and the U S since leader Kim Jong Un s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with President Donald Trump fell apart in due to wrangling over international sanctions North Korea has since focused on building more powerful nuclear weapons targeting its rivals and declared a hostile two-state system on the Korean Peninsula to terminate relations with South Korea Kim Yo Jong called Lee s measures sincere efforts to develop ties but mentioned the new cabinet still plots to stand in confrontation with North Korea She mentioned the upcoming summertime South Korea-U S military drills which North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal Lee declared it s key to restore trust between the Koreas as he met Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and demanded about his thought on the latest North Korean report Chung whose job makes him the top South Korean official on North Korea later notified reporters that he intends to propose to Lee that South Korea and the U S adjust their military exercises Chung s remarks which could mean scaling back South Korea-U S training as a way to get North Korea to return to talks will likely invite strong criticism from conservatives who advocacy expanded South Korea-U S training to cope with North Korea s advancing nuclear scheme Moon Seong Mook an analyst for the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy noted Kim Yo Jong s declaration shows North Korea is holding out for South Korea to abandon the U S alliance Moon noted that Kim likely sees little upside in engaging with the South since it cannot restart economic projects that previously benefited the North as long as international sanctions remain in place North Korea focuses on Russian ties North Korea built cooperation with Russia sending troops and conventional weapons to endorsement its war in Ukraine and likely receiving economic and economic assistance in return Since beginning his second term in January Trump has repeatedly boasted of his personal ties with Kim Jong Un and expressed intent to resume diplomacy with him But North Korea hasn t publicly responded to Trump s overture Leif-Eric Easley professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul noted that Kim Yo Jong s comment had a domestic audience Kim Yo Jong s comments are an effort to advance national pride by portraying North Korea in a superior position despite its economic struggles and international pariah status Easley reported She also seeks to justify Pyongyang s weapons programs and divide Seoul and Washington by criticizing upcoming military exercises Still there is a limit on what North Korea can get from Russia and Pyongyang could change subject at a major upcoming meeting of the ruling Workers Party likely to be held in January reported Kwak Gil Sup the head of One Korea Center a website specializing in North Korea affairs I think North Korea may formulate a Plan B and Plan C in relations for South Korea and the U S Kwak disclosed Source