Kim Jong-un’s sister gives Seoul an earful

The younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has levelled diatribes and ­insults on South Korea.

Kim Yo-jong talks to South Koran President Moon Jae-in during a visit to Seoul in February 2018. Picture: AP

In her first official statement, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has levelled diatribes and ­insults on South Korea for protesting against her country’s ­latest live-fire exercises.

Kim Yo-jong, believed to be in her early 30s, is in charge of propaganda affairs and has ­frequently appeared at her brother’s major public events, ­including summits with Donald Trump and regional leaders.

But her statement carried by state media indicated her political status has been further ­elevated.

In the statement on Tuesday, she criticised South Korea’s presidential Blue House for expressing strong concerns over the North’s firing drills and urging it not to carry out acts that do not contribute to efforts to ­reduce military tensions.

“As far as I know, the South side is also fond of joint military exercises and it is preoccupied with all the disgusting acts like purchasing ultra-modern military hardware,” Kim Yo-jong said.

“They meant that they need to get militarily prepared but we should be discouraged from military exercises. Such a gangster- like assertion can never be ­expected from those with normal way of thinking.”

She described the Blue House as “a mere child” and “a burnt child dreading fire”.

Kim Yo-jong didn’t mention by name liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in, whom she has met several times. She only said: “The South side’s ­response is so regretful and disappointing but it is somewhat fortunate that it was not direct statement of the President.”

State media earlier said Kim Jong-un supervised a live-fire rocket artillery exercise in an ­apparent reference to the two short-range ballistic missile launches reported by South Korea’s military a day earlier.

On Saturday, North Korea said Kim also guided an artillery drill aimed at testing the combat readiness of military units.

The back-to-back firing exercises were an apparent show of force by Kim, who had earlier vowed to bolster his nuclear ­deterrent and warned of “shocking action” over now-stalled ­nuclear negotiations with the US President. The latest firing drills were his first weapons tests since late November.

Kim Yo-jong’s statement was issued in her capacity as a first vice-department director of the Workers Party’s Central Committee. She also serves as an alternate member of the North’s powerful politburo and a member of the rubberstamp parliament. South Korean officials and experts say she’s virtually the North’s top propaganda official.

Her statement “suggests that her status and influence have been expanded to such an extent as to express her opinions externally and beyond playing a role of assisting Chairman Kim Jong-un on his public activities”, said analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at South Korea’s private Sejong ­Institute.

Kim Yo-jong took a prominent role in Kim Jong-un’s series of summits with Mr Trump and Mr Moon in 2018. During one of the three summits with Mr Moon in 2018-19, Kim Yo-jong handed her brother a pen when he signed a guestbook, and took his gloves after he shovelled dirt on a ceremonial tree and received a bouquet of flowers at the border.

Her proximity to her brother during the summit sparked speculation that she might be the No 2 in the North after her brother executed and purged ­potential rivals.

AP