Kim Jong-un's Sister Says South Korean Leaders Use Tensions As A Transfer Of Political Attention

Kim Yo-jong with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Screenshot of Youtube TheThings Celebrity)

JAKARTA - Kim Yo-jong accused South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol of creating tensions on the Korean Peninsula to distract from domestic problems, state media said on Monday.

Tensions between the two Koreas escalated after Pyongyang signed a joint defense pact with Russia and sent balloons filled with garbage to South Korea in response to the launch of South Korean activist balloons with anti-North Korean leaflets.

"Yoon and his group, who are plunged into the worst government crisis, are trying to make an 'emergency escape' through an ever-increasing tension platform," Kim Yo-jong said.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un's younger brother quoted an online petition calling for President Yoon's impeachment and signing more than one million people.

Meanwhile, Seoul's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, expressed regret over Kim's remarks criticizing President Yoon.

"North Korean regimes that turn a blind eye to the livelihoods of the people and oppress the basic human rights should reflect on themselves," said Koo Byoung-sam, a ministry spokesman, at a briefing.

On the same occasion, Kim Yo-jong also called South Korea's recent shooting drill near the border an "unforgivable and explicit provocation".

The South Korean military is known to continue artillery exercises with direct fire near the western maritime border in late June, the first time since 2018.

Last month, South Korea said it would suspend a military agreement signed with North Korea in 2018 aimed at easing tensions, in protest against the launch of North Korea's waste balloon.

Kim said that if North Korea assessed that its own sovereignty had been violated, its armed forces would soon carry out their duties in accordance with the constitution.