NKorea: Kim Jong Un's Sister Rejects Dialogue with US

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Nov 30, 2023

Image copyright: Korea Summit Press Pool/Getty Images News via Getty Images (Apr. 27, 2018)story last updated Nov 30, 2023

The Facts

Kim Jo Yong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has dismissed Western calls for her country to stop its spy satellite launch program. Referring to a UN Security Council meeting last Monday to discuss the issue, she called it a "gangster-like demand of the U.S. and its followers."
She further stated that Pyongyang wouldn't speak with the US because "The sovereignty of an independent state can never be an agenda item for negotiations..." The North's satellite launches violate several UN resolutions that prohibit the North from conducting any ballistic launches, whether it be missiles or satellites.

The Spin

Anti-North Korea Narrative

Whether it's as sophisticated as other launch systems or not, the fact that North Korea can successfully launch a satellite means it's on its way to putting ballistic missiles into space as well. This is a next-level threat to Japan, South Korea, and the US, to which each respective military should be concerned. South Korea can point out flaws in the North's technological pursuits all it wants, but the West cannot be complacent as Pyongyang works with the likes of Russia and China to advance its lethal rocket programs.

Guardian

Pro-North Korea narrative

Kim Jo Yong hasn't rejected the possibility of dialogue with the US, only the current, disingenuous ones being offered as Washington continues to ramp up its military presence in the South. Pyongyang has every right to develop the same defensive security measures that its increasingly aggressive adversaries have built. As for quelling tensions, that's up to South Korea and its antagonistic partners who have yet to stop provoking the North militarily.