A news broadcast on a public television screen shows reports of the 8th congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang, Jan. 11, 2021.
South Korea’s military detected signs of a military parade in the DPRK on the occasion of the 8th National Congress meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the South Korean Contract Staff Headquarters said on 11 January. In response, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-jung, blasted the South Korean authorities through the official media on the 13th as “very stupid” and showing the “hostile attitude” of South Korea.
The South Korean military said on the 11th that it detected “signs of a military parade related to the congress” in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square in the middle of the night, and that South Korea is “closely tracking” the event because it could be “a really big event or a big exercise”.
In response, the official Korean Central News Agency released a statement from Kim Woong-jung stating, “Southerners are a strange bunch, hard to understand.”
She called South Korea’s statement “very stupid” and “the world’s best in misbehavior.” The South Korean detection revealed deep-rooted hostility that even the North Korean military parade is afraid of, and reiterated that what South Korea has done is left to be settled later.
Kim and Jung also confirmed the holding of the military parade: “We are just parading in the capital, not a military exercise to lock anyone or launch any object.”
Kim made the remarks at the closing of the 8th National Congress of the ruling party of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), which has been held since the 5th.
Kim Yo-Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The plenum is an important political event in North Korea, during which Kim Jong Un was elected general secretary, succeeding his father, Kim Jong Il, in the title. The move is seen as a further consolidation of the Kim family’s regime.
At the meeting, Kim Jong Un pledged to further develop North Korea’s nuclear capabilities and confessed to making mistakes in dealing with economic issues.
Kim’s removal from the Politburo alternate at the meeting came as a surprise to some North Korea watchers.
But the statement, issued today in her name alone, shows she remains a key player in North Korean diplomacy. She was responsible for the bombing of the inter-Korean liaison office at the border last year.
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