North Korea has rejected recent proposals by South Korea’s government to ease tensions between the two countries.
The communist country cited South Korea’s cooperation and strong ties with the U.S. as the main reasons for spurning de-escalation attempts. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un, cited the U.S.-South Korea alliance in rebuking such efforts, according to reports. She emphasized that her country had no compulsory need to engage in diplomacy with South Korea.
“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 a reason to meet nor an issue to be discussed,” said Kim Yo Jong in a released statement.
The rejection comes after South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, made it an integral part of his political platform to improve relations with its neighbor to the north. Lee won South Korea’s presidential election on June 3, after his predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached in April for previously declaring martial law in the country.
Despite Lee’s attempts to engage in diplomacy, North Korea still views South Korea’s cooperative efforts with the U.S. as an existential threat to its country, citing South Korea’s frequent joint military drills with the U.S. Kim specifically mentioned the upcoming plans between the two countries, categorizing the drills as a rehearsal for an invasion of North Korea, according to the Associated Press.
“If South Korea expects to reverse all the consequences of [its actions] with a few sentimental words, there could be no greater miscalculation than that,” the supreme leader’s sister warned.
For his part, South Korea’s Lee has taken preemptive steps to thaw the frosty status between the countries. According to reports, one such action included stopping anti-North Korea propaganda from being blasted in loudspeakers in the country and halting the distribution of political flyers and leaflets that criticized North Korea’s regime.
Nevertheless, North Korea categorized such moves merely as correcting previous wrongs and not as legitimate efforts to make peace. That will reportedly only happen if South Korea stops cooperating with the U.S., starting with the aforementioned joint military drills scheduled for August.
“In other words, it’s not even something worth our assessment,” Kim said. “We again make clear the official position that whatever policy is established in Seoul or proposal is made, we are not interested, and we will not be sitting down with South Korea, and there is nothing to discuss.”