Kim Yo-jong shuts door on engagement after Seoul cites room for dialogue

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, attending a wreath laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi on March 2, 2019. [JOONGANG ILBO]

  
North Korea’s Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong-un, late Tuesday dismissed prospects for improving inter-Korean relations, rejecting the South Korean government’s assessment that her earlier remarks left room for engagement and calling such expectations a “daydream.”
 
“As far as Seoul’s various hope-filled wild dreams called ‘repair of DPRK-ROK relations’ are concerned, they all can never come true,” Kim said in an English-language statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). “The present address of the DPRK-ROK relations can never change.”
 
DPRK refers to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name, while ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea’s official designation. 
 
Her remarks were widely seen as a reiteration of Pyongyang’s stance to maintain a severance of inter-Korean ties based on Kim Jong-un’s doctrine of “two hostile states,” which frames the two Koreas as separate and adversarial countries rather than counterparts in a divided nation.
 
Earlier in the day, a senior Unification Ministry official told reporters that Kim Yo-jong’s Sunday statement demanding clarification over an alleged drone infiltration incident suggested “there could be room for easing tensions and resuming communication depending on our response.”
 
“The ministry will make efforts to restore inter-Korean relations even if there is only a 1 percent chance,” the official added.
 
Experts interpreted Kim’s latest statement as aimed at reining in the Lee Jae Myung administration.
 
“This reaffirms Pyongyang’s intent to uphold the hostile two-state doctrine and the immutability of inter-Korean relations,” said Yang Moo-jin, a distinguished professor at the University of North Korean Studies. “It pressures Seoul to acknowledge the drone incident, issue an apology and take measures to prevent recurrence — a three-pronged demand.”
 
Analysts also note that Pyongyang’s series of sharp reactions toward Seoul reflects its sensitivity to Lee’s diplomatic outreach, which has accelerated since the start of the year, as North Korea appears uneasy about issues related to itself gaining prominence in his summit diplomacy.
 
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon following her summit with Lee that the two leaders reaffirmed that Japan and South Korea, together with the United States, will “respond through close coordination toward North Korea’s complete denuclearization.”
 
Last week, Lee paid a state visit to China, where he asked President Xi Jinping to play a “mediating” role on the Korean Peninsula.
 
“The statement appears aimed at belittling efforts toward peaceful coexistence and improved inter-Korean relations discussed during the recent summits, while preemptively blocking any mediation role,” Yang said. “By releasing the statement immediately after the South Korea-Japan summit, North Korea is indirectly signaling its opposition to the denuclearization and peace-building efforts contained in the joint press statement.”

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]