Published 12:57 IST, January 13th 2021
'Hard to understand': Kim Jong's sister unsparing on Seoul officials, calls them 'idiots'
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister Kim Yo Jong lashed on South Korean authorities over their tracking of a potential military parade.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister Kim Yo Jong lashed on South Korean authorities over their tracking of a potential military parade in Pyongyang at the weekend and called them ‘idiots’, the North’s state media reported on January 13. Even though Kim Yo Yong had appeared to suffer a demotion at the North’s ruling party congress which is the key political event in the secretive nation, her statement issued by the state media under her own name is an indication that she still remains one of the key members in North’s diplomacy. Kim Yo Jong said that the Seoul authorities are ‘top of the world’s list in misbehaviour’ and called them ‘weird’.
"The southerners are a truly weird group hard to understand," Kim Yo Jong, a key adviser to her brother, said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"They are the idiot and top the world's list in misbehaviour."
This came after South Korean military said that it had detected “signs that North Korea held a military parade related to the congress” in the middle of the night at Kim Il Sung Square in the North’s capital Pyongyang. The Seoul authorities claimed that they arrived at the conclusion by “closely tracking” the activity which reportedly could have been either the actual event or its rehearsal. However, this declaration triggered the harsh comments from North Korean leader’s sister who also called it “senseless” and a demonstration of a “hostile attitude” from the South.
"We are only holding a military parade in the capital city, not military exercises targeting anybody nor launch of anything," she said, before confirming the scheduling of the parade.
The unclear fate of Kim Yo Jong
Following the major political event in North Korea that took place last week, the fate of Kim Yo Jong in North Korea’s politics remains unclear. She did not even appear on the Kim Jong Un’s newly released lineup for the country’s powerful Politburo in the recent days. According to The Associated Press report, Oh Gyeong Seob, an analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification, said that the rumours of Kim Yo Jong is her brother’s heir apparent could be harmful because they “raise the issue of Kim’s hold on power and health inside North Korea”. Therefore, according to the analyst, the North Korean leader is slowing her rise to power.
Updated 12:55 IST, January 13th 2021