The recent tensions in relations between North Korea and South Korea elicited yet another colorful verbal outburst from Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Department Director of the Worker’s Party of Korea’s Central Committee and sister of the North Korean head of state Kin Jong-un.
While the words Kim used in her statement may appear harsh to an outside observer, they would hardly surprise anybody familiar with her track record.
Here’s but a few of the most memorable statements delivered by Kim Jong-un’s sister in her capacity as North Korea’s de facto mouthpiece.
‘Faithful Dog’ and ‘Stooge’
Kim Yo-jong’s most recent outburst came this month in response to South Korea openly mulling sanctions against North Korea after the latest batch of ballistic missile tests carried out by Pyongyang, branding the South Korean leadership as “idiots” and “shameless fools”.
“Every time I see the south Korean stooges behave, I feel dumbfounded,” she said. “They are no more than a stray dog gnawing at a bone given by the United States.”
‘Scum-Like Guy’
Earlier this year, in April, Kim blasted South Korea’s then-Defense Minister Suh Wook after he mentioned the possibility of preemptive strikes against North Korea.
“The senseless and scum-like guy dare mention a preemptive strike at a nuclear weapons state,” she declared. “South Korea may face a serious threat owing to the reckless remarks made by its defense minister.”
‘Human Scum’
In May 2021, Kim used a somewhat similar rhetoric while addressing the actions of a group that boasted about 500,000 leaflets with 500 booklets and 5,000 $1 bills across the border into North Korea despite the existing ban in South Korea on sending leaflets into the North Korean territory.
"We regard the manoeuvres committed by the human scum in the south as a serious provocation against our state and will look into an action corresponding to them," Kim stated.
‘Gangster-Like Logic’
In March 2021, Kim criticized South Korea’s then-President Moon Jae-in after he voiced his concerns about Pyongyang testing guided missiles and called them “undesirable” and describing the tests as "actions providing difficulty for the mood for dialogue.”
In response, Kim Yo-jong argued that the South Korean president essentially sought to portray North Korea’s step to “bolster the capabilities for national defense” as an “obstacle to the efforts to create the atmosphere favorable for dialogue.”
“Such illogical and brazen-faced behavior of south Korea is exactly the same as the gangster-like logic of the US faulting the right of the DPRK to self-defense as a violation of the UN ‘resolutions’ and ‘threats’ to the international community,” she said, adding that Moon “cannot feel sorry for being ‘praised’ as a parrot raised by America.”
‘Top the World's List in Misbehavior’
In January 2021, Kim Yo-jong appeared to slam South Korea in general as she mocked a media report claiming that the South Korean military had detected signs of a late-night military parade in North Korea.
Deeming the wording used by the South Korean authorities in this situation as a “clear expression” of their “hostile approach toward the fellow countrymen in the north," Kim mused that “the southerners are a truly weird group hard to understand.”
“They are the idiot and top the world's list in misbehavior as they are only keen on things provoking world laughter," she added.