MADRID, 13 (EUROPA PRESS)
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has denied removing loudspeakers installed along the border with its southern neighbor for the dissemination of propaganda, thus refuting Seoul's statements last Saturday, and asserting that "we are not willing to do so."
"We have never removed the loudspeakers installed in the border area and we are not prepared to do so," he said in a statement reported by the North Korean news agency KCNA.
The North Korean leader has challenged the South Korean government's statements, accusing it of trying to "deceive the public by claiming that (...) relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea are being 'restored.'"
"The (South Korean) president stated that after removing the loudspeakers facing the DPRK, we also appeared to remove some, hoping that the other side's measures, such as removing unnecessary and costly loudspeakers, would contribute to improving inter-Korean relations," he added, referring to what he described as "an unfounded unilateral assumption and a red herring" on Seoul's part.
Kim has rejected that Seoul is implementing "goodwill measures and appeasement policies," believing that, instead, President Lee Jae Myung – who upon taking office in June ordered the suspension of border broadcasts and urged activists to stop distributing leaflets with anti-Pyongyang information – is trying to "get a favorable response and be praised for his "good deed."
In this regard, the North Korean leader's sister already stated last week that "there is no reason to meet or any matter to discuss with the Republic of Korea."
The two countries remain technically at war because the Korean War (1950-1953) did not end with a peace agreement, but with an armistice, and the parties have so far failed to reach an agreement to officially end the tensions.
