SEOUL, South Korea — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has derided South Korea's conservative president for being "foolishly brave" but called his liberal predecessor "smart" — rhetoric likely meant to help stoke domestic divisions in South Korea.
Her statement Tuesday came as a response to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's New Year's Day address, in which he said he would bolster South Korea's military capability and enhance its alliance with the U.S. to cope with North Korea's evolving nuclear threats.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has made such comments numerous times. Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, used Yoon's latest remarks as an opportunity to fire off derisive rhetoric against him.
"Since his inauguration he's been clamoring for the strengthening of the South Korea-U.S. extended deterrence and focusing on their joint military drills, bringing the fate of South Korea to the brink," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. She said that Yoon's "ability to think and reason are questionable."
Kim Yo Jong said that Yoon's "foolishly brave" stance and "fanatical military confrontation posture" have given North Korea a golden opportunity to beef up its military programs. She said Yoon's New Year's Day speech once again provided North Korea with a reason and a justification to obtain "more overwhelming nuclear capability."
Later she compared Yoon with his liberal predecessor, Moon Jae-in, calling the former South Korean president "smart" and "cunning."
She said that Moon's appeasement policy left North Korea wasting time and failing to press forward with its arms build-up programs. She said Moon solicited North Korea to halt missile and nuclear tests while beefing up South Korea's own national security by procuring advanced U.S. fighter jets and winning U.S. consent in acquiring more powerful missiles.
Her praise of Moon lacks sincerity, because she and her government have previously berated him severely. Some observers say Kim Yo Jong may be seeking to boost anti-Yoon sentiments in South Korea among those opposing his North Korea policy ahead of April's parliamentary elections.
In 2021, she called Moon "a parrot raised by America" after he criticized North Korean missile tests. In 2019, in one of the most disdainful insults directed at Moon, an unidentified North Korean government committee spokesperson said that Moon's comments hoping for better ties would make even the "boiled head of a cow break out into side-splitting laughter."
Moon, who governed South Korea from 2017 to 2022, was a champion of inter-Korean rapprochement. He met Kim Jong Un three times in 2018, touching off a flurry of short-lived exchange programs between the rivals and helping arrange the first North Korea-U.S. summit held between Kim and then-U.S. President Donald Trump. But North Korea turned a cold shoulder on Moon and cut off ties after its diplomacy with the United States fell apart in 2019.
Moon's engagement policy has drawn both praise and criticism. His supporters credited him with achieving cooperation with North Korea and avoiding major armed clashes, but opponents say he was a naive North Korea sympathizer who ended up helping the North buy time to advance its nuclear program in the face of international sanctions and pressure.
Since the collapse of the nuclear diplomacy with the U.S., North Korea has been pushing hard to modernize its nuclear arsenal.
Many experts say Kim Jong Un likely believes he can revive high-stakes diplomacy with the U.S. to get major concessions such as sanctions relief if Trump returns to the White House. They say Kim will likely subsequently intensify his weapons tests ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November to try to increase his leverage in future diplomacy with the Americans.
South Korea's spy agency said last week that North Korea will likely launch military provocations and cyberattacks ahead of South Korean parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November.
