Kim Jong Un’s sister has fired back at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after he referred to North Korea as Russia’s “accomplice” in the ongoing war.
Addressing the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, Zelensky said: “Russia has no legitimate reason, none at all, for making Iran and North Korea de facto accomplices in its criminal war in Europe—with their weapons, killing us, killing Ukrainians, and helping Putin steal our land from our people.”
Kim Yo Jong, the deputy department director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea, responded to the claims on Sunday, according to the U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia, which cited the state-run Korean Central New Agency.
The North Korean leader’s sister said, “The absurdity of accusing our country of being an ‘accomplice’ to the war in Ukraine, where the evil Zelensky gang is slaughtering innocent Russians, using junk weapons supplied by the U.S. and the West, is a reckless political provocation that cannot be justified by anything.”
She said, “The world is beginning to grow bored with Zelensky’s penny-pinching tricks. I don’t know how much more can be done with pity and sympathy, but for the sake of the world’s peace and stability, it would be better for him to step down in time before it’s too late.”
Kim Yo Jong also reportedly said that she was issuing a “stern warning” in the face of Zelensky’s “reckless political provocation.”
Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019. She criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for claiming that North Korea has become an accomplice of Russia in the ongoing war.
Jorge Silva/Associated Press
Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the North Korean embassy in the U.K. for comment via email.
Jong has also been a member of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea since 2021 and is the only female member on the board.
Both Russia and North Korea have denied illicit shipments of arms despite accusations from the West, according to Reuters.
Alongside Iran, Western sources allege Pyongyang is supplying short-range missiles to Russia that have been used in Ukraine, as North Korean missiles and air defenses housed at Russian ammunition depots were reportedly destroyed in Ukrainian drone strikes on September 18.
A recent report by Conflict Armament Research, a British weapons research group, said North Korea has been supplying short-range ballistic missiles to Russia after they analyzed the remnants of four missiles used during attacks in Ukraine throughout the summer and determined they were produced in North Korea this year.
Kim Yo Jong also criticized the U.S.’s provision of aid to Ukraine, describing the recently announced $8 billion package as “an incredible mistake and foolish act,” following President Joe Biden‘s announcement that the U.S. would provide $375 million in immediate military aid to Ukraine on September 25.
In response to continued American support of Ukraine, Kim Yo Jong said, “The United States and the West should not dismiss or underestimate Russia’s serious warning,” according to Reuters.
“Are the United States and the West really able to handle the consequences as they recklessly play with fire against Russia, which is a nuclear superpower?”
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