North Korean President Kim Jong Un’s sister has told the South Korean president to ‘shut his mouth’ as she rejects an offer of economic aid in return for nuclear disarmament.
Kim Yo Jong, a member of the North Korean political bureaualso described South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol as “really simple and still childish”.
“No one trades their destiny for corn cake,” she added in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.
South Korea’s Unification Minister Kwon Young-se called his remarks “disrespectful and indecent”.
It is the first time a senior North Korean official has commented directly on what Mr Yoon called a “bold” plan.
He said he was ready to provide gradual economic aid to North Korea if it ends the development of nuclear weapons and begins denuclearization.
But Ms Kim was scathing in her denunciation of the idea, saying of Mr Yoon: ‘It would have been better for his image to keep quiet, rather than talk nonsense because he had nothing better to say. “
North Korea fired two cruise missiles out to sea off its west coast Wednesday.
Last week, she threatened retaliation following an outbreak of COVID-19[feminine] in the north – something believed to have been caused by southern militants launching leaflets and other objects from balloons.
Addressing a large audience in Pyongyang on August 10, she said: “What matters is the fact that South Korean puppets are still throwing leaflets and dirty objects at our territory.
“The main culprit who seriously violated the safety of our people, inflicted suffering and caused anxiety on millions of parents in our country, who had to endure all hardships to protect the lives of their precious children, was the despicable South Koreans.”
She added, “We have eliminated the virus spread by the South Korean scum. We must counter it hard. We have already considered various countermeasure plans, but our countermeasure must be a deadly retaliatory measure.”
The economic aid offer from the south was first offered in May – and Mr Yoon spoke about it again on Wednesday as he celebrated his 100 days in office.
He also pushed to increase his country’s military deterrence against North Korea, and Seoul resumed long-suspended joint exercises with the United States, including major field exercises due to begin next week.
