欧博abg‘He is no different from his predecessor…’: K
Seoul: North Korea has flatly dismissed efforts by South Korea’s newly elected president Lee Jae Myung to re-engage in dialogue, declaring that Pyongyang holds no interest in any proposal or policy initiative coming from Seoul. The strong statement came from Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, marking the regime’s first formal comment on the Lee administration.
In a pointed message broadcast through the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Yo Jong accused the South Korean leadership of maintaining an adversarial stance towards the North, despite Seoul’s recent steps aimed at improving bilateral ties.
“Looking at around the past 50 days since Lee Jae Myung took office ... (he) is no different from his predecessor in blindly adhering to the South Korea-US alliance and pursuing confrontation with us,” she said.
The remarks follow a series of goodwill gestures by the South Korean government since Lee assumed office in early June. These included halting propaganda broadcasts at the border, repatriating North Koreans who drifted into the South, and attempting to curb balloon campaigns by activists that carry anti-North Korean leaflets across the demilitarised zone.
Despite these moves, Kim Yo Jong dismissed any possibility of future dialogue, stating, “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 with South Korea.”
She further criticised Seoul’s proposal to revitalise its unification ministry, arguing that the ministry should be dismantled entirely as “the two Koreas are separate countries.” She went on to accuse the South of being “possessed” by the idea of “unification by absorption.”
Kim also brushed aside Seoul's recent suspension of state-run broadcasts directed at North Korea, calling it an action that “does not deserve any appreciation.”
“There would be no greater misunderstanding if South Korea expected to overturn the consequences of its own making with a few sentimental words now, after having declared (North Korea) its main enemy and pursued extreme confrontation in the last,” she added.
Reports suggest the South Korean government had also floated the idea of inviting Kim Jong Un to the APEC summit scheduled to be held in Gyeongju this October. Kim Yo Jong dismissed such outreach as a “ridiculous delusion.”
Analysts interpret her statement as another indication that North Korea remains disinterested in diplomacy with both South Korea and the United States, particularly while its strategic alliance with Russia continues to grow. Pyongyang has ramped up cooperation with Moscow, reportedly supplying arms for the war in Ukraine in exchange for economic aid and possibly advanced technology that could bolster its nuclear weapons programme.
The current diplomatic freeze traces back to the collapse of Kim Jong Un’s summit diplomacy with US President Donald Trump in 2019, which ended in deadlock over sanctions relief and nuclear disarmament. Since then, Pyongyang has prioritised weapons development and fortified its rhetoric, particularly after Kim ordered a constitutional amendment earlier this year that removed the long-standing goal of peaceful Korean unification, instead designating South Korea as an “invariable principal enemy.”
Experts believe this doctrinal shift was designed to shield North Korean society from South Korean cultural influence and consolidate the Kim family’s grip on power. Some also view it as a legal move to justify potential use of nuclear weapons against the South, now categorised officially as a foreign enemy state rather than a reunification partner.
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.
(With inputs from agencies)