Current:Home > reviewsSister of North Korean leader derides South Korea’s president but praises his predecessor -Wealth Axis Pro
Sister of North Korean leader derides South Korea’s president but praises his predecessor
View
Date:2025-04-16 20:47:55
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has derided South Korea’s conservative president for being “foolishly brave” but called his liberal predecessor “smart” — rhetoric likely meant to help stoke domestic divisions in South Korea.
Her statement Tuesday came as a response to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s New Year’s Day address, in which he said he would bolster South Korea’s military capability and enhance its alliance with the U.S. to cope with North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has made such comments numerous times. Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, used Yoon’s latest remarks as an opportunity to fire off derisive rhetoric against him.
“Since his inauguration he’s been clamoring for the strengthening of the South Korea-U.S. extended deterrence and focusing on their joint military drills, bringing the fate of South Korea to the brink,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. She said that Yoon’s “ability to think and reason are questionable.”
Kim Yo Jong said that Yoon’s “foolishly brave” stance and “fanatical military confrontation posture” have given North Korea a golden opportunity to beef up its military programs. She said Yoon’s New Year’s Day speech once again provided North Korea with a reason and a justification to obtain ”more overwhelming nuclear capability.”
Later she compared Yoon with his liberal predecessor Moon Jae-in, calling the former South Korean president “smart” and “cunning.”
She said that Moon’s appeasement policy left North Korea wasting time and failing to press forward with its arms build-up programs. She said Moon solicited North Korea to halt missile and nuclear tests while beefing up South Korea’s own national security by procuring advanced U.S. fighter jets and winning U.S. consent in acquiring more powerful missiles.
Her praise of Moon lacks sincerity, because she and her government have previously berated him severely. Some observers say Kim Yo Jong may be seeking to boost anti-Yoon sentiments in South Korea among those opposing his North Korea policy ahead of April’s parliamentary elections.
In 2021, she called Moon “a parrot raised by America” after he criticized North Korean missile tests. In 2019, in one of the most disdainful insults directed at Moon, an unidentified North Korean government committee spokesperson said that Moon’s comments hoping for better ties would make even the “boiled head of a cow break out into side-splitting laughter.”
Moon, who governed South Korea from 2017-2022, was a champion of inter-Korean rapprochement. He met Kim Jong Un three times in 2018, touching off a flurry of short-lived exchange programs between the rivals and helping arrange the first North Korea-U.S. summit held between Kim and then U.S. President Donald Trump. But North Korea turned a cold shoulder on Moon and cut off ties, after its diplomacy with the United States fell apart in 2019.
Moon’s engagement policy has drawn both praise and criticism. His supporters credited him with achieving cooperation with North Korea and avoiding major armed clashes, but opponents say he was a naive North Korea sympathizer who ended up helping the North buy time to advance its nuclear program in the face of international sanctions and pressure.
Since the collapse of the nuclear diplomacy with the U.S., North Korea has been pushing hard to modernize its nuclear arsenal.
Many experts say Kim Jong Un likely believes he can revive high-stakes diplomacy with the U.S. to get major concessions like sanctions relief if Trump returns to the White House. They say Kim will likely subsequently intensify his weapons tests ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November to try to increase his leverage in future diplomacy with the Americans.
South Korea’s spy agency said last week that North Korea will likely launch military provocations and cyberattacks ahead of South Korean parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November.
veryGood! (56)
Related
- Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
- Inside Soccer Star Cristiano Ronaldo's Unexpected Private World
- Pumping Breastmilk at Work? Here are the Must-Have Items That Can Make It a Little Easier
- Céline Dion Makes Rare Public Appearance at 2024 Grammys Amid Health Battle
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- Black and Latina women helped propel gains for unions in 2023, finds a new study
- Over 100,000 Bissell vacuums recalled over potential fire hazard from a hot battery
- Prince Harry Returning to U.K. to Visit Dad King Charles III Amid Cancer Diagnosis
- The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
- Sen. Kyrsten Sinema rebukes election question that makes Americans really hate politics
Ranking
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
- Meet 'Dr. Tatiana,' the professor getting people on TikTok excited about physics
- United Football League reveals 2024 schedule with 10 game regular season slate
- 'Survivor' Season 46 cast: Meet the 18 contestants playing to win $1 million in Fiji
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Colorado Springs school district plans teacher housing on district property
- Our 2024 Grammys Recap
- Jay-Z calls out Grammys for snubbing Beyoncé in acceptance speech: We want y'all to get it right
Recommendation
South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
Meet 'Dr. Tatiana,' the professor getting people on TikTok excited about physics
How Calvin Harris Reacted to Seeing Ex Taylor Swift at 2024 Grammys
'This show isn't the facts': Drake criticizes Grammys, honors 'all you incredible artists'
Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
Jury to get manslaughter case against Michigan school shooter’s mother
McDonald's menu to have new additions: Shamrock Shake and Oreo Shamrock McFlurry
Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong is acquitted of financial crimes related to 2015 merger