North Korea "Ignoring ROK-US Drills, Only Criticizing ICBM"
US Experts "Ballistic Missile Launches Are Subject to Sanctions"
[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] When Kim Yo-jong, Vice Director of the Workers' Party of Korea, criticized the United Nations Security Council for ignoring the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises while condemning North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches as a "clear double standard," the U.S. Mission to the UN rebutted by stating that "the South Korea-U.S. exercises are defensive drills."
A spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN commented on Kim Yo-jong's statement on the 22nd (local time), saying, "The United States and South Korea are engaged in longstanding defensive military exercises that pose no threat to North Korea or anyone else," according to Radio Free Asia (RFA).
In a statement released the previous day through the Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo-jong claimed, "The United Nations Security Council deliberately ignores the dangerous military exercises and excessive military build-up that the United States and South Korea are busily conducting against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, while citing our exercise of inviolable self-defense rights in response, which is a clear double standard."
Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party, who oversees overall inter-Korean and U.S.-related diplomatic affairs, issued this statement three months after expressing rejection of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's denuclearization roadmap, the "Bold Initiative," in August. Although Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui recently issued statements before and after provocations, Kim Yo-jong's involvement adds significant weight to the matter.
However, U.S. experts also pointed out that it is difficult to view the South Korea-U.S. exercises and North Korea's provocations as equivalent.
Denis Wilder, former senior advisor for Asia, pointed out, "Traditional defensive military exercises (South Korea-U.S. exercises) are not subject to UN sanctions, but North Korea's ballistic missile launches are subject to UN Security Council sanctions." He added, "It is wrong to view the two equally," criticizing, "The South Korea-U.S. military exercises are defensive in nature, whereas North Korea's ballistic missile launches near Japan and South Korea are aggressive provocations."
Additionally, Gary Samore, former White House Coordinator for Arms Control and Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy, noted, "The UN Security Council has adopted multiple resolutions banning North Korea's ballistic missile launches," and stated, "Kim Yo-jong's double standard criticism is clearly incorrect."
Earlier, on the 21st (local time), the UN Security Council convened a public meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York on North Korea's non-proliferation issues but adjourned again without any visible achievements.
Led by the United States, Western countries along with South Korea and Japan strongly condemned North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches and called for a unified official response at the Security Council level. However, China and Russia once again repeated their stance blaming the United States for North Korea's military provocations and acted uncooperatively.
As expected, with no significant conclusions reached, ambassadors from 14 countries including South Korea, the U.S., and Japan issued a joint statement outside the meeting condemning North Korea's provocations and urging denuclearization. Furthermore, the United States announced plans to propose a Security Council presidential statement condemning North Korea's ICBM launches.
In response, Kim Yo-jong mocked, "What is laughable is that as soon as the Security Council public meeting ended, the United States could not hide its discomfort and came out leading a ragtag group including the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Japan, and South Korea to issue a disgusting 'joint statement,' venting their frustration over their unfulfilled sinister intentions," calling it "a spectacle that cannot be likened to anything other than a scared dog barking."
Specifically targeting the United States, she threatened, "Regarding the nitpicking over our exercise of self-defense rights, whoever they are, we will never tolerate it and will respond with the utmost severity until the end," adding, "They must remember that the more they persist in hostile acts against the Republic, the more they will face a deadly security crisis."
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