SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AP) – The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned the United States (US) on Tuesday that it would face “a more fatal security crisis” as Washington pushes for United Nations condemnation of the North’s recent intercontinental ballistic missile test.
Kim Yo-jong’s (AP, pic below) warning came hours after US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that the US will circulate a proposed presidential statement condemning North Korea’s banned missile launches and other destabilising activities. After the meeting, Thomas-Greenfield also read a statement by 14 countries which supported action to limit North Korea’s advancement of its weapons programmes.
Kim Yo-jong, who is widely considered North Korea’s second most powerful person after her brother, lambasted the US for issuing what she called “a disgusting joint statement together with such rabbles as Britain, France, Australia, Japan and South Korea”.
She said North Korea would consider the US-led statement “a wanton violation of our sovereignty and a grave political provocation”.
“The US should be mindful that no matter how desperately it may seek to disarm (North Korea), it can never deprive (North Korea) of its right to self-defence and that the more hell-bent it gets on the anti-(North Korea) acts, it will face a more fatal security crisis,” she said in a statement carried by state media.
Monday’s UN Security Council meeting was convened in response to North Korea’s ICBM launch last Friday, which was part of a run of missile tests this year that experts said is designed to modernise its nuclear arsenal and increase its leverage in future diplomacy.
Last Friday’s test involved its most powerful Hwasong-17 missile, and some experts said the successful launch proved its potential to strike anywhere in the US mainland.
During the Security Council meeting, the US and its allies strongly criticised the ICBM launch and called for action to limit North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.
