by Joori Roh
SEOUL, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean number one Kim Jong-un, the big Pyongyang influencer, said on Friday that South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol should “shut up” after that the latter withdrew an offer of economic aid to North Korea in exchange for abandoning its nuclear program.
These are the first public comments from a senior Pyongyang official on what the South Korean president described as a “bold” plan, which Yoon Suk-yeol first presented in May and which he spoke again on Wednesday, the 100th day in office.
In a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, Kim Yo-jong said it would have been “better for his image if he kept his mouth shut”, calling Yoon Suk-yeol “simple” and “childish”. to think he could offer economic cooperation in exchange for North Korea’s honor and nuclear weapons.
In Soul, the unification minister, responsible for relations with North Korea, described Kim Yo-jong’s comments as “very disrespectful and indecent”.
Yoon Suk-yeol reiterated on Wednesday his willingness to provide economic aid in stages to North Korea, in consultation with the international community, in order to improve the quality of life of the country’s population, in exchange for denuclearization.
However, the South Korean president also advocates strengthening the military deterrent power of Soul, which has relaunched its joint maneuvers with the United States – a time suspended or organized in a reduced format in order to promote diplomatic exchanges with Pyongyang .
Kim Yo-jong cited Soul and Washington’s military exercises as evidence that their talk proposals are dishonest.
“We are making it clear that we will not sit face-to-face with him,” the North Korean number one’s sister said of the South Korean president, as reported by KCNA. (Report Joori Roh, with Josh Smith; French version Jean Terzian)