North Korea denounces burning of Kim Jong-un picture
By Kim Rahn
North Korea has condemned a South Korean far-right group’s burning of a picture of its leader Kim Jong-un and the national flag, calling them “unforgivable atrocities.”
It used abusive language toward the protesters, such as “scum” and “lunatics.”
The statement by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, announced Tuesday through the Korean Central News Agency, said conservatives in the South who go against the stream of improvement in inter-Korean relations would only face destruction.
“Clamoring against North Korea’s participation in the Olympics, the group of mad dogs committed the unacceptable brutality of insulting our leader’s dignity and burning our flag at the center of Seoul, carrying out hysterical and lunatic acts in an attempt to make a scratch on the improvement of the inter-Korean relations,” said the statement issued under the name of Ri Myong, an official at the agency’s central committee.
The statement comes a day after the protesters, led by the ultra-right Korean Patriots Party, held a protest in front of Seoul Station when a North Korean delegation arrived there after inspecting performance facilities in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. Saying the PyeongChang Winter Olympics is turning into “Kim Jong-un’s Pyongyang Olympics” to propagate the North Korean regime, they burned a picture of Kim, the North Korean flag and the “unification flag” under which the athletes of the two Koreas will march at the opening ceremony of the Games.
North Korea claimed that its participation in the sports event and talks for this were not aimed at “buying time” for nuclear armament, breaking the Seoul-Washington alliance or weakening international sanctions imposed on the country, but was an important decision for Korean people.
Denouncing some conservative politicians, it said South Korean conservative parties’ remarks are pouring cold water on the mood of inter-Korean relationship improvement, causing anger and hatred.
“The steps toward national unity and reconciliation and a unified Korea will be slowed down without removing the traitors and lunatics, who will never be reclaimed even if they are born again over 100 times,” the North said in the statement.
“If South Koreans truly want national unity and reconciliation and peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, they will have to suppress the conservative parties, which are making frantic attempts to block the improvement of inter-Korean relations, and ostracize them.”
Another North Korean organization, the Committee for Peaceful Reunification, also demanded the South Korean government apologize for the burning of the Kim picture and the flag, punish the protesters and prepare measures to prevent such things from recurring.
In a statement, the committee said the conservative parties and the South Korean government would have to take responsibility if inter-Korean talks over the Olympics founder. “We value the inter-Korean relationship, but we have no intention to offer good will and tolerance while watching impertinent behavior that challenges our country’s leader and symbol,” it said.