Latest news with #SouthKorea-US
Korea Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
N. Korea says ties between NK-US leaders 'not bad' but rejects denuclearization talks
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Tuesday personal ties between the leaders of the North and the United States are "not bad," while ruling out talks on Pyongyang's denuclearization. Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the ruling party's Central Committee, made the remarks as US President Donald Trump has expressed his intent to reengage with the North's leader. "I do not want to deny the fact that the personal relationship between the head of our state and the present US president is not bad," Kim said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency. "However, if the personal relations between the top leaders of the DPRK and the US are to serve the purpose of denuclearization, it can be interpreted as nothing but a mockery of the other party," she said. DPRK is the acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Her remarks came days after a White House official told Yonhap News Agency that Trump remains open to engagement with the North Korean leader to achieve a "fully denuclearized" North Korea. Expectations have persisted that Trump might seek to resume his personal diplomacy with Kim, which led to three in-person meetings between them, including the first summit in Singapore in 2018. But the Hanoi summit in 2019 ended without a deal due to differences over the North's denuclearization steps in return for sanctions relief. While mentioning the official's remarks that she called the US side's "unilateral assessment," Kim Yo-jong stressed, "The year 2025 is neither 2018 nor 2019," and called for recognizing her country as a nuclear state. "Any attempt to deny the position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state ... will be thoroughly rejected," she said. "There should be a minimum judgment to admit that it is by no means beneficial to each other for the two countries possessed of nuclear weapons to go in a confrontational direction." Experts said North Korea reaffirmed its stance that it will not sit down for Pyongyang's denuclearization but appears to have left open room for talks with the US for other topics. Kim's remarks came just a day after she issued another statement via the KCNA claiming Pyongyang will not sit down with Seoul for dialogue and condemning it for "blindly adhering" to the South Korea-US alliance. (Yonhap)
TimesLIVE
a day ago
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
North Korea calls South Korea's peace overtures 'great miscalculation'
North Korea has no interest in any policy or proposals for reconciliation from South Korea, the powerful sister of its leader Kim Jong Un said on Monday, in the first response to peace overtures by the South's liberal President Lee Jae Myung. There had been cautious optimism in the South that the North might respond positively and even show willingness to return to dialogue after Pyongyang also shut off its propaganda loudspeakers, a move Lee said came sooner than expected. Kim Yo Jong, a senior official of North Korea's ruling party who is believed to speak for its leader, said Lee's pledge of commitment to the South Korea-US security alliance showed he was no different from his hostile predecessor. 'If South Korea expects to reverse all the consequences of [its actions] with a few sentimental words, there could be no greater miscalculation than that,' Kim said in comments carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) news agency. Lee, who took office on June 4 after winning a snap election following the removal of hardline conservative Yoon Suk Yeol over a failed attempt at martial law, has vowed to improve ties with Pyongyang that had reached their worst level in years. Among gestures to ease tension, Lee suspended loudspeaker broadcasts blasting anti-North propaganda across the border and banned the balloon drops of leaflets by activists that had angered Pyongyang. Kim, the North Korean official, called those moves merely a reversal of ill-intentioned activities South Korea should never have initiated. 'In other words, it's not even something worth our assessment,' she said. 'We again make clear the official position that whatever policy is established in Seoul or proposal is made, we are not interested, and we will not be sitting down with South Korea and there is nothing to discuss.' After the KCNA comments on Monday, Lee said it was important to restore trust between the neighbours. South Korea's Unification Ministry, charged with handling ties between the two countries, said Kim Yo Jong's comments 'show the wall of distrust between the South and the North is very high as a result of hostile and confrontational policy over the past few years'. South Korea will keep up efforts for reconciliation and co-operation with the North, ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam told a briefing. Its new unification minister, Chung Dong-young, said he planned to advise Lee to adjust joint military drills with the US, Yonhap said. The exercises have been criticised by Pyongyang. Still, Lee, whose government is embroiled in tough negotiations with Washington to avert punishing tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump, has called the US alliance the pillar of South Korea's diplomacy. Seoul would make efforts in all areas to 'strengthen the South Korea-US alliance that was sealed in blood', Lee said on the anniversary of the Korean War armistice on Sunday. North Korea held a parade in its capital of Pyongyang to mark the event it calls victory day, though state media reports indicated it was on a smaller scale than in some previous years. Columns of marching soldiers held portraits of commanders, including state founder Kim Il Sung, with spectators and frail veterans in historic army uniforms in attendance in state media pictures, which did not show major weapons in the parade. A formation of military jets flew over the Pyongyang Gymnasium square trailing streaks of flares and fireworks. State media made no mention of leader Kim Jong Un's attendance. The two Koreas, the US and China, which were the main belligerents in the 1950-1953 Korean War, have not signed a peace treaty.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
‘No reason to meet': Kim Jong Un's sister rejects South Korea president's outreach
The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rebuffed overtures by South Korea's new liberal government, saying Monday that its 'blind trust' in the country's alliance with the US and hostility toward North Korea make it no different from its conservative predecessor. Kim Yo Jong's comments imply that North Korea sees no need to resume diplomacy with South Korea and the US anytime soon. (AFP) 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 US 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 policy 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 said in a statement carried by state media. It's North Korea's first official statement on the government 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 government has halted anti-Pyongyang frontline loudspeaker broadcasts, taken steps to ban activists from flying balloons with propaganda leaflets across the border 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 US since leader Kim Jong Un's high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019 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 steps 'sincere efforts' to develop ties, but said the new government still plots to 'stand in confrontation' with North Korea. She mentioned the upcoming summertime South Korea-US military drills, which North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. Lee said it's important to restore trust between the Koreas as he met Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and asked about his thought on the latest North Korean statement. Chung, whose job makes him the top South Korean official on North Korea, later told 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-US training as a way to get North Korea to return to talks, will likely invite strong criticism from conservatives, who support expanded South Korea-US training to cope with North Korea's advancing nuclear program. Moon Seong Mook, an analyst for the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said Kim Yo Jong's statement shows North Korea is holding out for South Korea to abandon the U.S. alliance. Moon said 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 support 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, said that Kim Yo Jong's statement 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 said. '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 course at a major upcoming meeting of the ruling Workers' Party, likely to be held in January, said 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 US,' Kwak said.
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Kim Jong Un's sister rejects outreach by South Korea's new president
SEOUL: The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rebuffed overtures by South Korea's new liberal government Monday, saying that its blind trust in the country's alliance with the US 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 US 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 policy 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 said in a statement carried by state media. It is North Korea's first official statement on the government 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 government has halted anti-Pyongyang frontline loudspeaker broadcasts, taken steps to ban activists from flying balloons with propaganda leaflets across the border, 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 US since leader Kim Jong Un's high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019 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 steps sincere efforts to develop ties, but said the new government still plots to stand in confrontation with North Korea. She mentioned the upcoming summertime South Korea-US military drills, which North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. Lee said it's important to restore trust between the Koreas as he met Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and asked about his thought on the latest North Korean statement.
DW
2 days ago
- Politics
- DW
North Korea: Kim Jong Un's sister rejects South's overtures – DW – 07/28/2025
North Korea is not interested in talks with South Korea, Kim Jong Un's powerful younger sister says. Kim Yo Jong says there is "nothing to discuss," despite conciliatory moves from Seoul's new president. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on Monday dismissed the idea of a reset in relations with Seoul, despite dovish overtures from new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. In the North's first official comments on Lee's administration, Kim criticized what she described as Seoul's "blind trust" in its alliance with Washington. Since coming to power in June, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has broken with the hawkish approach of his predecessor to North Korea, ending loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border. Seoul had started playing out loud political messages in response to North Korea flying trash-filled balloons across the frontier. The balloons were said to carry with them waste ranging from household garbage and cigarette butts to fertilizer, batteries, and parasite-contaminated soil. North Korea responded with its own cross-border broadcasts of unpleasant noises, such as sirens and scraping metal, into the South. President Lee has said he would seek talks with the North without preconditions after relations plummeted to their worst level in years under his conservative predecessor. In a message in English carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Monday, Kim said the South should not expect any thawing of relations. "If the ROK [Republic of Korea]... expects to reverse all the consequences of (its actions) with a few sentimental words, there could be no greater miscalculation than that," she said, using the official name for South Korea. "We clarify once again the official stand that no matter what policy is adopted and whatever proposal is made in Seoul, we have no interest in it and there is neither [any] reason to meet nor [any] issue to be discussed with the ROK," she added. As well as stopping the loudspeaker broadcasts, the South has tried to ban civilian activists from flying balloons with propaganda leaflets across the border. It has also repatriated six North Koreans who had drifted south in wooden fishing boats months earlier. The individuals had expressed a wish to return to the North. While Kim Yo Jong called such steps "sincere efforts" by Lee's government, she added that it would not ultimately by different from its predecessors. She cited the South's "blind trust" in its military alliance with the US and its attempt to "stand in confrontation" with North Korea. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Kim also mentioned upcoming South Korea-US military exercises, which Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for invasion. Kim Yo Jong is seen as her brother's closest confidante and has played a key role in shaping his public image and in policy decisions. North Korea has continued rejecting dialogue with South Korea and the US, focusing instead on strengthening its nuclear weapons program since Kim Jong Un's diplomacy with Donald Trump collapsed in 2019 over sanctions disputes during the US president's first term in office. In response to Pyongyang's rejection of Lee's efforts, Seoul said it "reaffirms the high level of mistrust between the two due to years of hostile policies." "We take this as a sign that the North is closely monitoring the Lee administration's North Korea policy," South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Koo Byung-sam told a press briefing. Trump, who began his second term in January, has frequently highlighted his personal rapport with Kim and said he is open to resuming negotiations. So far, North Korea has not responded publicly. Kim notably ordered the removal of peaceful unification as a constitutional goal in early 2024, labeling South Korea an "invariable principal enemy." The move was viewed as a historic break from past leaders' long-held aim of a unified Korea — albeit on the North's terms. The two Koreas technically remain at war, as the 1950–53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
