Kim Yo-jong Issues New Statement 14 Hours Later, Resuming Attacks on South Korea

Kim Yo-jong, department director of the Workers' Party of Korea, publicly denounced on Friday via a written statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency in the early hours of the morning, calling the Unification Ministry's plan to provide medical equipment to North Korea a "sequel to a self-staged clown show." The statement came just 14 hours after her remarks exchanged the previous day. Kim Yo-jong stated that South Korean "human scum" would be ignored and disregarded. She noted that ignoring and disregarding South Korea reflects the will of State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un.

Kim Yo-jong used coarse language in her statement. She claimed that "the clown shows staged by Seoul are political-military and moral acts of parallel provocation" and that it "has become a decisive and historic record ensuring that our perception of the South Korean rabble endures for generations." Kim Yo-jong denounced the landmine accident and aid to the North together as a "self-staged drama."

The day before the written statement was released, on October 8 (local time), South and North Korea traded barbs over the landmine explosion at the UN General Assembly First Committee in New York. Ambassador Cho Ji-hoon pointed out that the landmine blast was a "violation of the Armistice Agreement," urging North Korea to issue a public apology, take responsible measures, and engage in dialogue to restore trust. However, the North Korean representative rejected the demand, saying the so-called "landmine explosion incident" was a "malicious obstructive act seeking to brand the South's fortification of border areas, a legitimate exercise of sovereignty, as military aggression."

As the inter-Korean clash at the UN fuels an ongoing international war of public opinion, the government's diplomatic and military response procedures are set to proceed in stages.