Kim Jong-un's Sister Says South Korea Has "Dual Personality"

JAKARTA - Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said South Korea and its President Lee Jae-myung have a "dual personality" regarding their desire for peace while continuing joint military exercises with the United States, state media reported on Wednesday.

"Lee Jae-myung is not the right person to change the course of history" with his confrontational ambitions, Kim said, adding that "the (South Korean) government keeps using the pretext of peace and improving relations to blame us for the never-ending decline of inter-Korean relations," according to KCNA, as reported by Reuters on August 20.

The statement followed remarks by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, published by KCNA on Tuesday, in which he called the U.S.-South Korean military exercises "a clear expression of their desire to provoke war" and underscored the need for his country to quickly expand its nuclear arsenal.

The vice department director of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea said President Lee was unfit to change the course of history, while continuing to condemn the ongoing military exercises between South Korea and the United States, according to The Korea Times, KCNA reported.

"Not even a small role will be given" to South Korea "in the ongoing regional diplomatic stage with our country at the center," Kim Yo-jong said.

"The Republic of Korea cannot be our diplomatic partner," she asserted.

Kim said that since Lee took office, his administration has made "sincere efforts" to create the impression of change aimed at improving inter-Korean relations, but its "true confrontational intentions" cannot be hidden, no matter how hard it tries.

She referred to President Lee's statement at a Cabinet meeting on Monday that "accumulating small steps can lead to the restoration of mutual (inter-Korean) trust," and dismissed it as "delusions and foolish dreams in every word."

"We have repeatedly witnessed and experienced the corrupt political system of the Republic of Korea for decades," Kim said, claiming Seoul's "confrontational ambitions" have persisted under both conservative and liberal governments.

South Korea and the United States began joint military exercises titled "Ulchi Freedom Shield 25" this week, including testing enhanced responses to North Korea's growing nuclear threat.

Pyongyang regularly criticizes such exercises as rehearsals for invasion and sometimes responds with weapons tests, but Seoul and Washington say the exercises are purely defensive.

Since taking office in June, President Lee's administration has sought to improve relations between the two neighbors, which remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict, although senior North Korean officials have been quoted by state media as rejecting the liberal South Korean president's approach.

President Lee this week ordered his cabinet to prepare for the gradual, partial implementation of existing agreements with North Korea.

South Korea has also begun removing loudspeakers that broadcast anti-North Korean broadcasts along the border.