The influential sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rose up against the "
effrontery
" of Moon Jae-in, whom she presented as a "
parrot raised by the United States
", a few days after a however cautious speech of the South Korean president about the situation on the peninsula.
Read also: North Korea fires "two ballistic missiles" and challenges Joe Biden
The reclusive regime has a long tradition of using missile launches to increase pressure, and last week's fire was its first major provocation since the inauguration in January of the US president. Joe Biden.
Washington and Tokyo claimed the projectiles were ballistic missiles, while the United Nations Security Council prohibited Pyongyang from firing them.
North Korea argued that these were tactical guided weapons.
"The height of effrontery"
South Korean center-left President Moon, who was one of the architects of the spectacular 2018 rapprochement between Washington and Pyongyang, delivered a capable speech on Friday March 26 at the commemoration of northern attacks -Korean killers in 1999. He did not specifically mention the North Korean shootings but considered that the actions likely to obstruct a resumption of dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington were "
undesirable
".
This speech aroused the ire of Pyongyang and therefore of Kim Yo-jong, a close advisor to her brother Kim Jong-un, who saw it as "
the height of effrontery
".
She remained "
speechless
", she said in a statement taken up by the official North Korean agency KCNA, where she referred to Moon as "
the general manager
" of the South, without ever quoting neither his name nor his official title.
She called it "
high by parrot
're Sta temen
ts United
" who gets "
gangster logic of the United States
."
Biden changes strategy
The Biden administration is reviewing the US strategy towards the North, following the outstretched hand policy led by former US President Donald Trump.
After the North Korean fire, Joe Biden had issued a warning to Pyongyang, saying that there would be "
answers if (the North Korean leaders) choose escalation
".
“
We will respond accordingly,
” he said.
If he seemed to leave open the possibility of diplomatic exchanges with the North, the White House said Monday, March 29 that it was "
not in its intention
" to have a summit with Kim.
