Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, denounced Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky for accusing North Korea of providing weapons to Russia.
Zelensky told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that “Russia has no legitimate reason – none at all – for making Iran and North Korea de facto accomplices in its criminal war.”
Both North Korea and Iran have been widely accused by Western intelligence of providing weapons to Russia, with Iran recently said to have sent short-range missiles. Pyongyang has denied the accusation.
In response to Zelensky’s remarks, Kim Yo Jong said she was issuing a “stern warning” against his “reckless political provocation.”
“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,” Kim Yo Jong said, cited by state-run Korean Central New Agency on Sunday.
“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,” she added.
Kim Yo Jong also said that the U.S. and the West, which provided weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, should be given the status of special accomplices.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it has been deepening its relationship with North Korea. In exchange for weapons, analysts and Western officials suspect North Korea is receiving Russian technological aid for its space program.
RELATED STORIES
[ Putin admires Kim Jong Un, unlike other world leaders, North Koreans are toldOpens in new window ]
[ North Korean leader hails deepening ties with RussiaOpens in new window ]
[ North Korea’s Kim in military talks with Russian vice defense ministerOpens in new window ]
U.S. military aid to Ukraine
Separately, Kim Yo Jong described U.S. military aid worth nearly US$8 billion to Ukraine as an “incredible mistake,” and said the U.S. was playing with fire against nuclear superpower Russia.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced military assistance for Ukraine on Thursday, including the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon.
The aid will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, unmanned aerial systems and air-to-ground munitions, as well as strengthening its defense industrial base and supporting its maintenance and sustainment requirements, Biden said.
He added that the U.S. Defense Department would also refurbish and provide Ukraine with an additional Patriot air defense battery and more Patriot missiles.
“I strongly condemn the U.S. deliberate escalation of the situation in Ukraine by providing Ukraine with astronomical amounts of arms and equipment to prolong and escalate the conflict and plunge the entire European region into nuclear war,” Kim Yo Jong said.
“Supporting Ukraine in any further adventurous military action is a dangerous gamble and an irresponsible move that will leave countless lives in limbo, with little hope of avoiding catastrophe,” she added.
Edited by Mike Firn.