By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea has no interest in any policy or proposals for reconciliation from South Korea, the powerful sister of its leader Kim Jong Un said on Monday in the first response to South Korean liberal President Lee Jae Myung’s peace overtures.
Kim Yo Jong, who is a senior North Korean ruling party official and is believed to speak for the country’s leader, said Lee’s pledge of commitment to South Korea-U.S. security alliance shows he is no different from his hostile predecessor.
“If South Korea expects to reverse all the consequences of (its actions) with a few sentimental words, there could be no greater miscalculation than that,” Kim said in comments carried by official KCNA news agency.
Lee, who took office on June 4 after winning a snap election called after the removal of hardline conservative Yoon Suk Yeol over a failed attempt at martial law, has vowed to improve ties with Pyongyang that had reached the worst level in years.
As gestures aimed at easing tensions, Lee suspended loudspeaker broadcasts blasting anti-North propaganda across the border and banned the flying of leaflets by activists that had angered Pyongyang.
Kim, the North Korean official, said those moves are merely a reversal of ill-intentioned activities by South Korea that should never have been initiated in the first place.
“In other words, it’s not even something worth our assessment,” she said.
“We again make clear the official position that whatever policy is established in Seoul or proposal is made, we are not interested, and we will not be sitting down with South Korea and there is nothing to discuss.”
There has been cautious optimism in the South that the North may respond positively and may even show willingness to re-engage in dialogue, particularly after Pyongyang also shut off its loudspeakers, a move Lee said was quicker than expected.
Still, Lee, whose government is in the midst of tough negotiations with Washington to avert punishing tariffs that President Donald Trump has threatened against a string of major trading partners, has said U.S. alliance is the pillar of South Korea’s diplomacy.
“Through efforts in the areas of politics, economic security and culture, we will strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance that was sealed in blood,” Lee said in remarks commemorating the anniversary of the Korean War armistice on Sunday.
North Korea also marked the anniversary which it calls victory day with events including a parade in Pyongyang, although state media reports indicated it was at a relatively lesser scale compared to some previous years.
The two Koreas, the United States and China, which are the main belligerents in the 1950-53 Korean War, have not signed a peace treaty.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Stephen Coates)
