[Anchor]
North Korea's Kim Yo-jong, Vice Department Director of the Workers' Party of Korea, claimed that the South Korean government has "staged yet another clown show." She brought up the South Korean Unification Ministry's project to provide medical aid to North Korea.
Reporter Kim Ayeong examined why she abruptly raised this issue.
[Reporter]
Kim Yo-jong, Vice Department Director of the Workers' Party of Korea—who defined the western front DMZ landmine explosion as "Seoul's self-staged drama"—quoted Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's remarks made yesterday (October 7) during the parliamentary audit of the Unification Ministry:
[Chung Dong-young / Unification Minister (Yesterday, Parliamentary Audit of the Unification Ministry): You mentioned it was a landmine attack, but it cannot yet be specifically identified as a landmine attack.]
She then sarcastically remarked that a "dogfight" is currently unfolding within South Korea over whether it was an accident or a provocation.
Then, she changed the subject.
She brought up the medical aid project for North Korea that the government had been pursuing even before the landmine explosion, claiming that "Seoul's clown show, Act Two" has begun.
In May, the Unification Ministry obtained UN sanctions exemption approval in preparation for the potential provision of 166 types of medical equipment worth 9.3 billion won to Kangdong County Hospital in Pyongyang, which was built as part of Kim Jong-un's key flagship projects.
Yet, she abruptly targeted this move.
Kim Yo-jong's decision to step forward on a matter that could have simply been ignored appears to be triggered by the contents of the sanctions exemption application, which was made public during the parliamentary audit.
Kim Yo-jong specifically pointed out expressions used in the application, such as "deteriorating health conditions" and "vulnerable populations," defining the project as a provocation against them and a mutant form of political provocation.
She also lectured that if Seoul wants to restore relations, it must consider the other party's feelings.
Analysts interpret this as an expression of displeasure over South Korea offering to provide medical equipment to a facility North Korea seeks to highlight as an achievement, as well as the public disclosure that North Korea's healthcare situation is vulnerable.
[Yang Moo-jin / Chair Professor, University of North Korean Studies: It openly hurt their pride, and it likely reflects discomfort and difficulty regarding that situation. Her message is, if you want to restore relations, do not hurt our pride.]
There is also a possibility that her calculation was to divert attention away from the lingering fallout of the landmine explosion by raising the issue of aid to the North.
Kim Yo-jong, however, emphasized that North Korea will never face South Korea again, once more drawing a firm line against the possibility of returning to inter-Korean dialogue.
Video by Lee Seung-jin
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