The United States will be made to “pay” for the “fire” that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ignited through her provocative Asia trip, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Foreign Ministry spokesman Jo Yong Sam has said.
“As is known, Mrs. Pelosi…having come under a volley of criticism from China following the destruction of peace and stability of the region by making an appearance in Taiwan, moved on to South Korea, instigating an atmosphere of confrontation,” the spokesman said, referencing Pelosi’s Thursday visit to the demilitarized zone frontier.
Accusing the speaker of manifesting the Biden administration’s anti-Pyongyang policy by talking up the “North Korean threat,” Jo characterized Pelosi’s actions as a “deeply insidious attempt to rationalize [Washington’s] anti-DPRK policy and reckless military strategy under the pretext of exacerbating what is already an acute situation on the Korean peninsula and in the region” by driving authorities in Seoul “into a confrontation with their own people.”
“The United States will have to pay the price for the fire that Mrs. Pelosi has carried wherever she goes,” the spokesman added, referring to her Taiwan trip, as well as her April visit to Ukraine.
Pelosi traveled to South Korea after her Taiwan visit, with her Asia tour also taking her to Singapore, Japan and Malaysia.
During her stopover South Korea, Pelosi discussed the “strong bond” between Washington and Seoul “formed for security and forged by decades of warm friendship,” and hailed the 28,000 US service members stationed in South Korea as “sentinels of democracy on the Korean peninsula.”
DPRK-US relations began to cool after Pyongyang rejected Washington’s demands for unilateral, trust-based nuclear disarmament in 2019, and have soured further since 2021 after Donald Trump, who had established cordial personal relations with Kim Jong-un, was replaced by Biden.
Earlier this year, Biden indicated that a meeting with Kim could take place if Pyongyang was “sincere” and “serious” about discussing its nuclear program. North Korea has not publicly responded to Biden’s offer.
Nearly 70 years on from the Korean War of 1950-1953, North and South Korea are still technically at war, with an armistice signed but a permanent peace never reached. The two countries began a process toward reunification in the year 2000, but progress has been halting amid political, ideological and economic differences, as well as the continued US military presence in South Korea.