Kim Yo Jong, the sister of dictator Kim Jong Un, gave her first televised speech in front of a group of North Koreans on Wednesday in which she claimed that her brother achieved “victory” over the country’s COVID-19 outbreak. She insinuated that her brother had a bout with the virus as well.
In the speech, Kim Yo Jong called the dictatorship’s experience with the virus an “amazing miracle” and laid the blame for the outbreak on South Korea, promising a “deadly” response to her country’s southern neighbors. Oddly enough, her primary responsibility is inter-Korean relations.
The dictator’s sister said that Pyongyang would “eradicate not only the virus but also (South Korean) government authorities” if the “enemies continue dangerous acts that could introduce the virus into our republic.”
“North Korea’s statements about its outbreak are widely believed to be manipulated to help Kim Jong Un maintain absolute authority,” reports the Associated Press. “But experts believe the victory announcement signals his intention to move to other priorities and are concerned his sister’s remarks portend a provocation, which might include nuclear or missile tests or even border skirmishes.”
Earlier this summer, officials claimed that South Korea launched balloons containing the virus over the border, but in her speech, Kim Yo Jong declared that “leaflets, banknotes, [and] awful booklets” from across the southern border spread COVID to the North Korean people.
“Activists in South Korea for years have flown balloons across the border to distribute hundreds of thousands of propaganda leaflets critical of Kim’s regime,” the AP reports. “North Korea has often expressed fury at the activists and at South Korea’s government for not stopping them.”
Experts say that the outbreak likely began in January when North Korea opened its border with China to commercial traffic. Military parades and other large-scale events in the spring exacerbated the spread of the omicron variant.
South Korean officials decried North Korea’s “extremely disrespectful and threatening comments” that the regime built around “ridiculous claims.” One official, speaking on background, told the AP that South Korea is preparing for any provocative actions by the North Koreans.
Kim Jong Un made a speech of his own on Wednesday where he also bragged about his country’s response to the pandemic.
“For a country that has yet to administer a single vaccine shot, our success in overcoming the spread of the illness in such a short period of time and recovering safety in public health and making our nation a clean virus-free zone again is an amazing miracle that would be recorded in the world’s history of public health,” he declared.
Korea experts say that the siblings’ speeches indicate that Pyongyang is ready to move beyond the pandemic and achieve other priorities and that Kim Yo Jong’s fiery rhetoric suggests that one of those priorities may be some kind of action against South Korea. Those same experts also suggest that raising Kim Yo Jong’s profile may mean a greater role for her in the government.
Source: PJ Media
