A North Korean leader has rejected a proposal from Seoul that would offer economic support in exchange for denuclearization, calling the notion “ridiculous” and “the height of absurdity.”
Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a top official in her own right, ridiculed the offer from South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. He said they would help lift North Korea’s standard of living if the country’s leaders would abandon their ambitions to become a nuclear power.
In a statement published by the state-owned Korean Central News Agency, Ms. Kim said Mr. Yoon’s “bold plan” was not a new idea but a copy of a proposal that they had rejected a decade ago.
“The fact that he copied the policy towards the north, already thrown into the dustbin of history, and called it a ‘bold plan’ shows that he is really foolish,” she said. “He is really simple and still childish.”
South Korean officials on Friday said they regretted the “rude remarks” from Ms. Kim about their president.
“North Korea’s attitude, like this, is never helpful to its future and peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and it only hastens North Korea’s international isolation,” according to a statement released by the presidential office in Seoul.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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