N. Korea says dialogue with US option but not must for national interest
Summary
Kim Yo-jong said Wednesday that dialogue with the United States remains an option for peace but is not necessarily in North Korea’s national interest. She said Pyongyang has no reason to talk unless Washington abandons what she called its hostile policy. Kim cited U.S. accusations over the Binance cryptocurrency theft and a trilateral South Korea-U.S.-Japan commitment to North Korea’s denuclearization as signs of hostility. She warned of counteraction but did not specify what it would be.
Key Facts
- Kim rejected the FBI’s finding that North Korea was behind the theft of more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
- Kim described the alleged cryptocurrency hacking case as a sign of U.S. hostile policy toward the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
- Kim also cited joint military drills and a recent meeting of the top diplomats of South Korea, the United States and Japan, where they reaffirmed their commitment to North Korea’s complete denuclearization.
- Kim said abandoning U.S. hostile policy was a major premise for solving problems and that North Korea had no need to meet with people she described as unreliable and hostile.
Kim Yo-jong, a sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 2, 2019. AP-Yonhap
North Korea said Wednesday that dialogue with the United States remains an option for peace, but that it would not be necessary for its own interest while again stressing the U.S.' accusation of its involvement in a major cryptocurrency theft as a sign of Washington's hostility toward Pyongyang.
Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, made the remarks, saying the continued "hostile signal" by Washington was compelling the regime to reconsider the "true nature" of the U.S.
"The choice for peace includes dialogue of course, but this is not surely equated with national interests for us," Kim said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The remarks came a day after she rejected the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) findings that the regime was behind the theft of more than US$6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. She earlier called the accusation a "grave political provocation" against the North.
"The so-called 'cryptocurrency hacking case by the DPRK' is no more than a tip of iceberg that shows the essence of the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK," Kim reiterated Wednesday, referring to the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Kim pointed to a recent trilateral meeting between the top diplomats of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, where they reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea, along with various joint military drills, as other examples of U.S. hostility.
"The U.S. abandonment of its hostile policy" toward Pyongyang "is a major premise and key to solving all problems," she said, adding that North Korea has no reason to engage in talks with the U.S. unless that happens.
"It is our clear stand that we have no need to sit face to face with such unreliable and hostile persons who refuse to abandon their policy of confrontation," she said.
She further warned that Pyongyang would respond to what it views as continued U.S. hostility.
"In the present reality when new records are being set in the implementation of the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK, it is natural that new records should be created in our reflective counteraction."
She did not specify what counteractions Pyongyang would take.
Explore More
- Q.
- Q.
- Q.