Tag: Kim Yo-jong

I am wondering if the Japanese effort to start talks with North Korea was nothing more than political theater? The Japanese spokesman had to have known that his statements about discussing the abduction issue would lead to North Korea ending any possibility of bilateral talks which is what Kim Yo-jong did:

North Korea will refuse “any contact and negotiations” with Japan in the future, the powerful sister of the nuclear-armed country’s leader said Tuesday, just a day after she said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had requested a summit with her brother, Kim Jong Un.

In a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong pointed to the comments by the Japanese government’s top spokesman on Monday that Tokyo would never accept Pyongyang’s claim that the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s had already been resolved.

“Japan has no courage to change history, promote regional peace and stability and take the first step for the fresh DPRK-Japan relations,” she said, adding that a summit meeting between the two countries’ leaders was therefore “not a matter of concern” to Pyongyang.

“The DPRK government has clearly understood once again the attitude of Japan and, accordingly, the DPRK side will pay no attention to and reject any contact and negotiations with the Japanese side,” KCNA quoted her as saying, using the acronym for the country’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Japan Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Japan is the one democratic nation that the North Koreans are looking to play nice with:

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un offered a rare opening for Japan, saying she saw a positive tone in comments from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is seeking a summit. Kim Yo Jong indicated a meeting of leaders would be possible if Japan “does not lay such a stumbling block as the already settled abduction issue,” she said in a press statement issued Thursday on state media.

“It is my opinion that if Japan makes a political decision to open up a new way of mending the relations through its courteous behavior and trustworthy action on the basis of courageously breaking with anachronistic hostility and unattainable desire and recognizing each other, the two countries can open up a new future together,” the statement carried on the Korean Central News Agency said.

The tone is a marked change from comments she issued nearly two years ago when she lumped Japan in with a bunch of “sinister” nations she accused of raising rabble at the United Nations to criticize Pyongyang for the test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but what I suspect is that the Kim regime sees the growing relationship between Japan and South Korea. Because of this they probably want to play nice with Japan in order to try and separate them from South Korea.

For once I actually agree with Kim Yo-jong that anyone that thinks they will willingly give up their nuclear weapons is delusional:

The powerful sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned Monday that it would be “delusional” for the United States to believe that Pyongyang’s disarmament was possible.

Kim Yo-jong criticized Washington’s policies of strengthening its extended deterrence and military alliance with South Korea, stating that such actions would only make it difficult for Pyongyang to engage in dialogue, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

“The U.S. is being delusional if it believes that it could halt our advancement and further achieve irreversible disarmament by temporarily halting joint military drills, suspending the deployment of strategic assets or reversibly easing sanctions etc,” Kim said. 

Kim also rejected U.S. calls for unconditional talks, dismissing them as a ploy to hinder North Korea’s progress.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This should not be surprising that the North Koreans are making bold threats they likely won’t or can’t carry out:

Anchor: The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued another warning just several hours after claiming that a U.S. military reconnaissance plane repeatedly violated the North’s airspace. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, on its part, urged Pyongyang to put a stop to such false claims that heighten military tensions.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.

Report: Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North’s leader, warned on Tuesday that U.S. forces will face a “very critical flight” if they continue with what she termed an “illegal intrusion.”

She issued the warning in a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) as she said that she will act “upon authorization” if a U.S. spy plane again violates the North’s exclusive economic zone(EEZ).

The warning came just nine hours after Kim accused a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft of intruding into the zone over waters east of Tongchon of Kangwon Province and waters southeast of Uljin County in North Gyeongsang Province between 5:15 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Monday.

In a separate statement issued under the name of the defense ministry spokesperson, the reclusive state repeated Kim’s claims and warned that it can shoot down U.S. planes.

KBS World

You can read more at the link.

I wonder what made up airspace boundaries Kim Yo-jong is claiming this aircraft violated?:

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Monday claimed US reconnaissance aircraft intruded in the country’s airspace.

Kim issued a statement alleging that a US spy aircraft intruded in the North’s eastern airspace twice at around 5 a.m. and 8:50 a.m., respectively, on the same day.

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, she said the US is “engaging in a serious military provocation by conducting aerial surveillance.”

Kim Yo-jong added that the North will not respond directly to the US reconnaissance activities outside of the country’s exclusive economic zone, but warned that it will take “decisive action” if the US military again crosses its maritime military demarcation line.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s military rejected the North’s claim of its airspace being violated as “not true” and described flights by US aerial surveillance assets around the peninsula as part of regular surveillance activities.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

North Korea has officially responded to the US-ROK summit last week where President Biden said the regime would be destroyed if they used nuclear weapons. None of these insults and threats coming from Kim Yo-jong should be surprising in response considering North Korea’s past history of insulting US and ROK presidents:

In her comments published on state media, Kim Yo Jong said the U.S.-South Korean agreement reflected the allies’ “most hostile and aggressive will of action” against the North and will push regional peace and security into “more serious danger.”

Kim, who is one of her brother’s top foreign policy officials, said the summit further strengthened the North’s conviction to enhance its nuclear arms capabilities. She said it would be especially important for the North to perfect the “second mission of the nuclear war deterrent,” in an apparent reference to the country’s escalatory nuclear doctrine that calls for preemptive nuclear strikes over a broad range of scenarios where it may perceive its leadership as under threat.

She lashed out at Biden over his blunt warning that North Korean nuclear aggression would result in the end of its regime, calling him senile and “too miscalculating and irresponsibly brave.” However, she said the North wouldn’t simply dismiss his words as a “nonsensical remark from the person in his dotage.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It is a bit ironic that Kim Yo-jong is criticizing Zelenskiy for possibly pursuing nuclear weapons when the North Koreans know better than anyone how much they ensure regime security. If Ukraine had its own nuclear weapons deterrent the Russians would have likely never had invaded:

Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday of “gambling” with his country’s destiny by talking about developing nuclear weapons or placing U.S. nukes in Ukraine.

Kim, vice department director of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party, also accused the Ukrainian authorities of being “seized with the incurable megalomania that (they) can defeat Russia,” and “incurring a nuclear disaster threatening their existence.”

“Zelenskiy’s talk about the introduction of U.S. nuclear weapons and the independent development of nuclear weapons is a manifestation of his very dangerous political ambition to prolong his remaining days at any cost by gambling with the destiny of his country and people,” she said in an English-language statement carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Kim Yo-jong is out making wild threats as usual before next weeks US-ROK Freedom Shield exercise:

Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned Tuesday the North is ready to take “overwhelming” actions against military activities by the United States and South Korea, as its rivals are staging joint military drills involving American strategic assets.

Kim also warned the North will regard any U.S. attempt to intercept a missile that it will fire as a “clear declaration of war” against the reclusive nation, according to the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“As already clarified, we keep our eye on the restless military moves by the U.S. forces and the south Korean puppet military and are always on standby to take appropriate, quick and overwhelming action at any time according to our judgment,” Kim said in an English-language statement carried by the state-run media.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but all the U.S. is only going to intercept a missile if it fired at areas that threaten U.S. or allied territory. The U.S. Aegis ships and THAAD batteries provide terminal missile defense which means it does intercepts while the threat missile is descending from the atmosphere. This means the U.S. would need to know the area where the missile is descending to shoot it down. That is why these assets are located in areas that military commanders want protected such as the THAAD batteries in South Korea and Guam.

The U.S. also has the GMD system with interceptors located in Alaska and California to protect the U.S. homeland. If North Korea fires a missile any where near the U.S. homeland of course it will be intercepted.