Kim Jong-un's Younger Sister Is Angry At The South Korean Foreign Minister's Comments Regarding The COVID-19 Case In North Korea

JAKARTA - North Korea (North Korea) has criticized South Korean Foreign Minister (Menlu) Kang Kyung-wha for doubting claims that North Korea does not have a COVID-19 outbreak. North Korea warned of consequences for its "brazen" comments, North Korean state media said.

On Saturday December 5, Kang Kyung-hwa said that he could hardly believe that North Korea had no COVID-19 cases. Kang Kyung-hwa stated that although North Korea has made every effort to prevent the disease, it is unlikely that there will not be a single case.

North Korea has so far not officially confirmed the presence of COVID-19 in its country, although it says there are thousands of suspected cases. North Korea has also refused outside assistance, saying foreign aid could increase the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak.

The younger sister of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-jong, issued a statement to the official KCNA news agency regarding the South Korean foreign minister's comments. The senior Labor Party official said the South Korean foreign minister's statement strained inter-Korean relations.

"This can be seen from the reckless comments he made without considering the consequences that he was too excited to further cool off the frozen relationship," said Kim Yo-jong.

"We will never forget his words and he may have to pay dearly for it."

Kim Yo-jong's criticism of South Korea comes nearly six months after he issued a profanity threatening to blow up the inter-Korean liaison office. He was furious about the delivery of anti-North Korean leaflets by defectors.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un held three summits in 2018. But relations have made little progress since the failed 2019 summit between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump.

KCNA said last week that North Korea had imposed a "high-end emergency measure" to block the spread of the coronavirus. South Korea's National Intelligence Service said an outbreak in North Korea could not be ruled out because the isolated country had trade and people-to-people exchanges with China, where the virus emerged a year ago. In late January North Korea closed its border with China.

The KCNA report comes as US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, the top US man in North Korea who has led denuclearization talks, arrives in Seoul on Monday 7 December evening. He made the last trip before the new US government under President-elect Joe Biden took effect.