North Korean leader Kim Jong Un‘s influential sister has issued a barbed rebuke at the U.N. chief António Guterres after he condemned the country’s latest launch of an international continental ballistic missile.
“I express my strong dissatisfaction and categorically reject the unfair and prejudiced attitude of the U.N. secretary-general taking issue with the DPRK’s just exercise of its right to self-defense,” Kim Yong Jong was quoted as saying Saturday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The solid-fuel Hwasong-19, launched on Thursday was North Korea’s first ICBM test since the Hwasong-18 launch in December 2023. According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, the missile flew northeast for 86 minutes, a new record for the country, before landing in the Sea of Japan. Newsweek reached out to the North Korean embassy in Beijing, China, with a written request for response.
Kim and his daughter (left) watch North Korea launching a new intercontinental ballistic missile early on October 31. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the country’s missile tests.
Kim and his daughter (left) watch North Korea launching a new intercontinental ballistic missile early on October 31. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the country’s missile tests.
Korean Central News Agency
Guterres on Friday criticized the Kim regime’s frequent missile launches on X (formerly Twitter), pointing out they are breaches of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
“I strongly condemn today’s launch of a long-range ballistic missile by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Guterres posted. He added: “diplomatic engagement remains the only pathway to sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, accused Guterres of siding with the United States and its allies.
“The U.N. secretary-general should not lose impartiality in fulfilling his important duty but stop a shameful act of volunteering to act as a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State,” she said. She added that Washington and Seoul’s military exercises are the root cause of rising tensions and said that external pressure has only strengthened North Korea’s resolve.
“Pressure, sanctions, and threats have only made us stronger,” Kim added. “If one is not a fool, one should not do a stupid act of expecting our change.”
The U.N. Security Council first imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2006 following its initial nuclear test. Since then, these have expanded to cover missile tests, with the establishment of a Panel of Experts to monitor compliance. However, Russia blocked the panel’s mandate renewal earlier this year, calling it “irrelevant.” China, North Korea’s ally, abstained from the vote.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula, already at their highest in decades, have further risen in recent months amid the cross-border exchanges of balloons and the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to Russia.
Pyongyang continues to blame joint U.S.-South Korean military drills for further destabilizing the regional situation.
KCNA on Sunday said that a Defense Ministry spokesperson hit out at South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s “disastrous policy.” The statement warned Yoon’s hard-line stance and close alignment with Washington has put the South at greater risk of “nuclear war.”
After meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun in Washington last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated America’s commitment to its extended deterrence policy on South Korea. He emphasized that any nuclear attack by North Korea would result in the annihilation of the Kim regime.
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