"Jeong Dong-young himself confessed it's hard to call the landmine explosion a deliberate attack"; 'two hostile states' stance reaffirmed, though some see door left ajar

Kim Yo-jong, director of the Korean Workers' Party General Affairs Department [Yonhap]
Kim Yo-jong, director of the Korean Workers' Party General Affairs Department [Yonhap]

Kim Yo-jong, director of the Korean Workers' Party General Affairs Department, lashed out Thursday at the South Korean government's reported offer to send medical equipment to North Korea through the UN Security Council, calling it "another clown act, an insult and a mutant form of political provocation."

In a statement carried by KCNA, Kim said the South Korean government had submitted a sanctions-exemption request to the UN Security Council's 1718 Committee — the body overseeing North Korea sanctions — to send medical equipment to the North, and accused Seoul of staging "yet another clown act on the theme of 'goodwill.'"

Kim said the South had "recklessly talked about" what she called shortages of medicines and medical equipment and a deteriorating public health situation in its request letter, claiming it would "contribute to improving essential medical services for vulnerable groups." She called this "an insult to our state, a mutant form of political provocation and a grave violation of sovereignty that runs counter to our national law."

Kim also mocked the South over a separate incident in which South Korean soldiers were wounded by a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone, which Seoul has attributed to North Korea. "This sequel to the clown act, running in parallel with the self-staged 'landmine explosion' farce, is also a spectacle not worth a mosquito's blood," she said. "Inside South Korea right now, with many questions about this 'landmine explosion incident' left unanswered, there is nothing but endless bickering over whether it was an accident or a provocation."

She also seized on remarks by Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young, who told the National Assembly's foreign affairs and unification committee during a national audit on Wednesday that the landmine explosion could not yet be characterized as an attack. Kim said Jeong "confessed on his own that it is difficult to conclude that this 'landmine explosion incident' was a deliberate attack by our republic."

Kim then argued that once the "self-staged farce" failed to generate the expected public reaction, Seoul rushed out a "Part 2 of the clown act" in the form of a medical equipment support plan. "Behind this self-staged drama lies a sinister political calculation — to contrast their own 'goodwill' with our 'opposing stance' of rejection, and to squeeze out whatever they can from it," she said.

Kim also took a swipe at the South Korean government's decision-making, saying it was "steeped entirely in unilateral judgments, unilateral decisions and unilateral announcements," and that one could not help but suspect it reflected either "political immaturity or genuinely irredeemable, congenital stupidity."

She added that if Seoul genuinely wanted to restore inter-Korean relations, it should "show maximum respect, consideration and sincerity in every word and deed, being mindful of the other side's feelings."

Kim said "it is once again made clear that the absolutely immutable position of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is that there is nothing to exchange or get entangled with South Korea, and no need to even face it," adding that "the hostile identity of South Korea — the most hostile to the DPRK — and the hostile nature of inter-Korean relations can never change."

With North Korea not only deflecting responsibility for the landmine explosion but also firmly rejecting the South's humanitarian aid offer while reaffirming its "two hostile states" posture, prospects for any improvement in inter-Korean relations appear increasingly dim.

Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the statement was "a mockery toward a government that demands improved relations while acting without sincerity," adding that "it is difficult to interpret hopefully, given the emphasis that the hostile relationship is immutable." However, some analysts noted that Kim's call for Seoul to show "respect, consideration and sincerity" if it wants to restore ties could be read as leaving the door to dialogue not entirely shut.

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said Seoul should "refrain from publicly self-congratulatory events or clumsy, pretext-building proposals and statements," and called for "an urgent need to establish and execute an effective strategy toward North Korea." Earlier, according to documents the Ministry of Unification submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Dae-sik, the government sent a sanctions-exemption request to the 1718 Committee to deliver medical equipment to Gangdong-gun Hospital in Pyongyang through the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare. The exemption was approved in May. A Unification Ministry official told reporters that the original plan called for the equipment to be shipped out in November, when the exemption was granted, but that this now appeared unrealistic. The official said that if the nine-month validity period of the sanctions exemption expires in February next year without any agreement with North Korea, the government would seek to extend it through fresh consultations with the UN.


kty@heraldcorp.com