North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister has rejected recent peace proposals from South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, declaring that Pyongyang will never view Seoul as a partner for diplomacy, according to state media.
The comments, reported by KCNA on Wednesday, came as South Korea and the United States continued their joint military exercises, which include testing upgraded responses to North Korea’s growing nuclear capabilities.
Kim Yo Jong, a senior figure in her brother’s foreign policy team, criticised the drills as a “reckless” invasion rehearsal and accused Lee of showing a “dual personality” by speaking about peace while continuing military activities.
“The Republic of Korea, which is not serious, weighty or honest, cannot even play a subordinate role in the regional diplomatic arena centred on the DPRK,” Kim said, adding: “The ROK cannot be a diplomatic partner of the DPRK.”
The remarks followed Lee’s latest outreach, in which he said Seoul would seek to restore a 2018 military agreement aimed at reducing border tensions, while urging Pyongyang to reciprocate by rebuilding trust and resuming dialogue.
Since taking office in June, Lee has pursued steps to ease strained relations, including the removal of front-line loudspeakers that once broadcast anti-North Korean propaganda and K-pop. In a speech last week, he emphasised that South Korea respects the North’s current system and has “no intention of unification by absorption or hostile acts.”
Despite this, Lee reaffirmed Seoul’s commitment to international efforts to denuclearise North Korea and called on Pyongyang to resume dialogue with both Washington and Seoul.
Kim Yo Jong dismissed the proposals as “a fancy and a pipe dream,” adding that the South Korean government has long sought confrontation under both conservative and liberal administrations.
Her remarks came a day after Kim Jong Un criticised the US-South Korea drills as “an obvious expression of their will to provoke war,” while vowing to accelerate the expansion of his nuclear arsenal. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises involve around 21,000 troops, including 18,000 from South Korea.
Kim Jong Un also inspected a new warship being equipped with nuclear-capable systems, underscoring his pledge to bolster the country’s military capacity.
Talks aimed at ending the nuclear standoff have remained stalled since 2019, following the breakdown of a summit between Kim Jong Un and then-US President Donald Trump.
In recent years, Pyongyang has prioritised closer ties with Moscow following the start of the conflict in Ukraine, strengthening military cooperation and aligning more closely with Russia on the global stage.
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