【Observer Network/Li Zexi】
According to the "Korean Central News Agency" reported on the 19th, Kim Yoo-jong, vice minister of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, delivered a speech on the 18th, saying that the "bold idea" of North Korea's "denuclearization in exchange for investment" proposed by South Korean President Yoon Seok-wook is "daydreaming."
Kim Yo-jong also confirmed that the DPRK conducted a weapons test at the "Jinxing Bridge" in Anju City, South Pyongan Province, the day before yesterday (17 July).
Screenshot of the "North Korean Central News Agency" bulletin
On the 15th, in a ceremony to celebrate the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II and the restoration of the Korean Peninsula, Yoon Seok-yue proposed that as long as North Korea is willing to go nuclear, it will ensure "sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia and the world", and the South Korean side is willing to provide economic assistance, which he calls "bold ideas". In the afternoon, Kim Tae-hyo, the first head of South Korea's security room, said that if North Korea "sincerely participates in the negotiations," South Korea will consider providing assistance at the beginning of the talks, so the proposal is "very bold." The analysis believes that the DPRK is negatively affected by the new crown epidemic and grain harvest failures and other factors, and its economy is in difficulty, and the ROK may hope to take the opportunity to solve the North Korean nuclear weapons problem.
Yoon Seok-yue celebrated the 77th anniversary of the restoration of the Korean Peninsula on the 15th
In this regard, Kim Yo-jong made a stern refutation on the 18th. She said that the "bold idea" was "ridiculous", and Yin Xiyue put forward the idea that it was "not knowing the measure and not measuring up to one's own strength", "exchanging things like 'economic cooperation' for our national system - nuclear", "daydreaming", "who in the world is willing to exchange their fate for the nest of hard states".
Kim & Positive Infographic
She also said that the so-called "bold idea" "has no new ideas, but is just a copy of the 'non-nuclear, open, 3,000' introduced by Lee Myung-bak more than 10 years ago." The plan, proposed by South Korea in 2008 when former President Lee Myung-bak first came to power, means "if North Korea denuclearizes and opens up, it will help North Korea raise its per capita national income to $3,000 within a decade." The plan is tougher than South Korea's previous north Korea policy, because for the first time, the demand for "denuclearization" has been explicitly proposed, and the North Korean side has not actively responded.
Not only does Kim Yoon-jong think Yoon's idea is "nothing new," but South Korean media and international analysts have also criticized the "bold idea" as a copy of previous administrations' north Korean policies and "nothing new." Scott Snyder, head of U.S.-North Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, published an editorial on the "Forbes" network on the 17th, although Yin Xiyue's proposal may be the most comprehensive and generous "denuclearization" plan so far, but it did not jump out of the previous framework, using the "denuclearization for investment" idea that north Korea has explicitly rejected many times, and only added a new stroke to the "long list of failed initiatives". Schneider said that the North Korean side may also think that this is South Korea's attempt to "annex" North Korea through economic means; As a result, he thinks North Korea is likely to reject "bold ideas."
Kim Yo-jong also criticized South Korea for "talking about 'bold ideas' today and forcing northern invasion war exercises tomorrow." The South Korean military announced on the 16th that it will hold an annual ROK-US joint military exercise from 22 to September 1, and the scale is expected to be the largest in several years. On the morning of the 17th, North Korea fired two missiles in the direction of South Korea, and the South Korean military said that the missiles fell into the Yellow Sea.
North Korea Missile Infographic
In this regard, Kim Yo-jong said, "The previous day we conducted a weapons test at the 'KimSung Bridge' in Anju City, South Pyongan Province, not in the hot spring area where the South Korean authorities were clumsily and quickly published." ”
Kim Yoo-jong advises Yoon Seok-wook in South Korea that "the economy has been paralyzed and the people's livelihood is withering", and he is facing the "crisis of impeachment at any time", "don't take the North-South issue to cause trouble, if idle, or sweep the snow in front of your own door."
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.