SEOUL: The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attacked the bloc of Southeast Asian nations on Monday (Jul 27) for seeking a denuclearised Korean peninsula, blasting the position as “stupid and foolish”.
At its annual regional forum last week, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) expressed “grave concern” over Pyongyang’s ongoing nuclear weapons development and stressed the importance of dialogue “to realise lasting peace and stability in a denuclearised Korean Peninsula”.
North Korea has long insisted on its right to nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, although they are forbidden under the terms of UN Security Council sanctions. It enshrined its nuclear status in its constitution in 2023.
Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state news outlet KCNA that she expressed “strong dissatisfaction with the forum’s undisguised hostile attitude of going along with the US trumpeting about ‘denuclearisation'” and ignoring North Korea’s constitution.
