North Korea Rejects Talks With South Korea’s New Liberal President

The sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has rejected diplomatic talks with South Korea’s new liberal leader.  

“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 the reason to meet nor the issue to be discussed with the [Republic of Korea],” Kim Yo Jong, who speaks on behalf of her brother, said in a statement Monday.  

Since taking office in June, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, has expressed a desire to improve relations with North Korea. In a gesture of goodwill, the new South Korean president has stopped loudspeaker broadcasts along the border and has also ended the dropping of leaflets by balloon into North Korea. But Kim Yo Jong says the actions don’t change the relationship between the neighboring countries.  

Kim Yo Jong called the end of the “propaganda broadcasting” just “a reversible turning back of what they should not have done in the first place,” adding that because of this, the move “is not the work worthy of appreciation.”  

Kim Yo Jong stressed that the relationship between North and South Korea has not changed even though a new president is in power, calling South Korea the “enemy.”  

“No matter how desperately the Lee Jae Myung government may try to imitate the fellow countrymen and pretend they do all sorts of righteous things to attract our attention and receive international attention, there can be no change in our state’s understanding of the enemy and they cannot turn back the hands of the clock of the history which has radically changed the character of the [North Korea]-[Republic of Korea] relations,” Kim Jong Un’s sister said.  

The North Korean leader pledged to continue military exercises near the border of South Korea, threatening that “the [Republic of Korea] adjacent to our southern border will be stained by powder fumes through the successive large-scale joint military drills of aggressive nature.”  

Kim Yo Jong also expressed her displeasure over South Korea’s relationship with the U.S., stating that the Lee administration’s alliance with the U.S. is “little short of their predecessor’s.”  

The U.S. and South Korea enjoy a strong relationship that extends to economic ties. Currently, the U.S. and South Korea are engaged in trade deal discussions as South Korea seeks to avoid President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” 25% tariffs.