The sister of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, issued a warning to the US on Tuesday as the Biden administration tries to push the United Nations to condemn recent intercontinental ballistic missile tests by North Korea.
Kim Yo Jong warned the US of a more “fatal” security crisis a few hours after the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, spoke to the UN Security Council in an emergency meeting. Thomas-Greenfield said that the US would circulate a presidential statement condemning the banned ballistic tests by North Korea and other destabilizing activities that North Korea was involved in.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield read a statement by 14 other countries supporting the proposed action to limit how much North Korea can advance its weapons programs.
Considered the second most powerful person in North Korea, Kim Yo Jong called the joint statement the US released with countries including Britain, Japan, France, Australia, and South Korea “disgusting.” She equated the statement to a barking dog full of fear and said North Korea considered the statement a violation of North Korea’s sovereignty and a serious political provocation.
Her statement, carried by the Korean state media, warned the US that no matter how much they seek to disarm North Korea, they would never be able to deprive the country of its right to self-defense. She said their insistence on anti-North Korea acts would lead to a “fatal security crisis” for the US.
The emergency UN Security Council meeting on Monday was called after North Korea tested an ICBM or Intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday as part of several missile tests this year. According to experts, the tests are made to modernize North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, increasing its leverage on future diplomatic missions and negotiations.
On Friday, North Korea tested its most powerful missile, Hwasong-17, which proved that if fired at a standard trajectory, can strike anywhere in the mainland US.
During Monday’s meeting, the US condemned the missile tests and called for the UN to limit North Korea’s missile programs. Despite their call to action against North Korea, two veto-wielding Security Council members, Russia and China, opposed any new sanctions and measures against North Korea.
Russia and China’s latest opposition was in line with a previous one in May, when the two countries voted against an attempt to add sanctions to North Korea over missile tests, which the UN Security Council resolutions prohibit.
North Korea said its missile tests are legitimate self-defense exercises, just like the regular military drills between South Korea and the US, which North Korea sees as a rehearsal for invasion. However, US and South Korean officials dismiss those claims, saying that their drills are defensive.
Kim Yo Jong accused the UN Security Council of double standards for discussing North Korea’s tests while turning a blind eye to the military drills by South Korea and the US.
On Monday, Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s Foreign Minister, called Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, a US puppet.
Although the status of the nuclear capabilities of North Korea is kept a secret, there have been growing concerns that the country will soon begin its first nuclear tests.
