"Seoul in a Pitiful Plight," Mocked... A Ploy to "Excluding South Korea"?

[Anchor]

While the United States is actively extending olive branches to resume North Korea-U.S. dialogue, North Korea has unleashed raw and harsh criticism targeting our government. Kim Yo-jong, the sister of Kim Jong-un, issued a sarcastic statement claiming that South Korea has been placed in a pitiful and wretched plight after the South Korea-U.S. joint drills were scaled back at a single word from President Trump. She also sneered that President Lee Jae-myung is offering cringeworthy flattery to Trump.

For our first story, here is reporter Kim Ayeong.

[Reporter]

In her statement directed at South Korea, Kim Yo-jong claimed, "At a single word from Trump, who abruptly ordered a scale-down of the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, Seoul has been reduced to a pitiful plight where it has to pack up its favorite war games."

Without using the title of "President," she referred to President Lee Jae-myung simply by name, sneering at his social media post—in which he expressed respect for U.S. President Trump's decision—as "cringeworthy flattery."

She also lashed out at President Lee's mention of self-reliant defense as dual-faced rhetoric with a discrepancy between words and actions. This marked a stark contrast in tone from her statement toward the U.S. the day before yesterday (August 19), which mobilized more refined expressions such as "good memories of Trump."

[Hong Min, Senior Research Fellow, Korea Institute for National Unification: (Kim) seems to want to send a message to Washington that she holds intense hostile feelings toward (South Korea) and does not view it as a party concerned (in North Korea-U.S. dialogue discussions).]នុKim Yo-jong claimed that "North Korea is a nuclear-armed state," while referring to South Korea as a "puppet" or a dummy force.

North Korea's dual approach of treating South Korea and the United States with hot and cold tactics appears to stem from a calculation that "passing over South Korea" is ultimately more advantageous during the current phase of exploring North Korea-U.S. dialogue.

[Chang Yong-sdk, Guest Research Fellow, Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, Seoul National University: It delivered a clear message to check South Korea and pursue direct dealings with the United States.]

Although the statement was meant for disparaging South Korea, Kim released it last night, our time, when the workday in Washington, D.C. begins, seemingly wishing for Trump to hear it first. Analysts suggest this is an attempt to leverage Trump's recent grievances against South Korea regarding issues such as the deployment to the Strait of Hormuz.

(Video Editing: Chae Cheol-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.