North Korea Criticizes Kang Kyung-hwa as a "Foolish Person Inviting Submission and Humiliation"

Mentioning Attendance at the Munich Security Conference as a "Cowardly Act"

Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha (left), U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu

On the 14th (local time), Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attended the Munich Security Conference (MSC) and held talks with ministers from major countries around the world, which North Korea condemned as "an act of utter shamelessness."

On the 24th, North Korea's external propaganda outlet Chosun Today published an article titled "What Can Be Gained by Begging," stating, "There are still foolish people who, forgetting the bitter lessons of history, bring about submission and humiliation themselves," and added, "The recent trip of a South Korean diplomatic official to Germany once again proves this."

The outlet said, "Participating in the Munich International Security Conference, he held bilateral and multilateral talks with foreign ministers from the United States, Japan, and several other countries, begging for international support while saying things like 'We hope to closely cooperate for the peaceful settlement of the Korean Peninsula.'"

It continued, "Bringing internal national issues to the outside and seeking favors will gain nothing; rather, it only provides a pretext for foreign forces pursuing impure objectives to interfere and creates complexity in resolving the issues?this is an unchanging truth proven by history."

Chosun Today further stated, "The increasingly complicated situation on the Korean Peninsula is due to the treacherous actions of the South Korean authorities, who perform a handshake of 'reconciliation and peace' with us in front but turn their backs and become henchmen of foreign forces' anti-Republic suppression strategies, persistently engaging in fratricidal confrontation," adding, "The only outcome of cooperation with foreign powers and following the U.S. will be heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula."

Meanwhile, on the 15th (local time), Minister Kang held a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu to discuss trilateral cooperation measures related to the North Korean nuclear issue as well as regional and international issues and situations.

At the meeting venue set up at Commerzbank in Munich, the three ministers shared assessments of the current situation in North Korea and discussed response measures and future trilateral cooperation plans.