Seoul: South Korea will consistently pursue the normalization of ties with North Korea, the government said Thursday, responding to Pyongyang's statement rejecting Seoul's conciliatory overtures, Yonhap News Agency reported.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the Unification Ministry stated, "The government will consistently pursue normalization and stabilization of ties between South and North Korea in a way that can become mutually beneficial." It emphasized the necessity for Seoul to adopt a long-term approach to transform the strength-to-strength inter-Korean relations of the past three years into ones of goodwill. This response came shortly after Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, released a statement through the Korean Central News Agency. Her statement rebuffed the actions of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's administration to appease North Korea and resume dialogue.
Kim Yo-jong stated, "We have clarified on several occasions that we have no will to improve relations with (South Korea) and this conclusive stand and viewpoint will be fixed in our constitution in the future." She further mentioned that North Korea has "never removed loudspeakers installed on the border area and are not willing to remove them," countering Seoul's earlier claims that Pyongyang had begun dismantling them in response to Seoul's gestures.
In her statement, Kim also indicated a potential openness to resuming dialogue with Washington. She noted, "If the US persists with the outdated way of thinking, the meeting between the top leaders (of North Korea and the US) will remain only the 'hope' of the US side."