Kim Jong-un's Unusual Earthquake Condolence Message to Japan's Kishida... Even Using the Honorific 'Gakha'

Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, sent a message of condolence to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida regarding the earthquake that occurred in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In the condolence message dated the 5th, released by the Korean Central News Agency on the 6th, Chairman Kim addressed Prime Minister Kishida as "Your Excellency" and said, "I have received the news that, unfortunately, from the beginning of the new year, many lives have been lost and material damage caused by the earthquake in Japan. I express my deepest sympathy and condolences to you and, through you, to the bereaved families and victims."

He also stated, "I hope that the people in the affected areas will soon overcome the aftermath of the earthquake damage and restore a stable life."

North Korea has previously sent messages of condolence only in disaster situations involving so-called 'anti-American front' countries such as Syria and Cuba.

During the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, North Korea sent a message of condolence to the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan under the name of Kim Yong-nam, then Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly. During the 1995 Kobe Earthquake, then Premier Kang Song-san sent a message of condolence to Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama.

Chairman Kim's unusual condolence message this time is analyzed as an attempt to create a rift in the recently strengthened South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation.

Hong Min, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, "North Korea may be showing a hardline stance toward South Korea while indicating a conciliatory attitude toward Japan as part of a method to dilute the South Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation."