North Korea has launched a new round of verbal attacks on South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung as he prepares for his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, dismissing Lee’s diplomatic outreach as a “pipedream.”
Since taking office in June’s snap election, the liberal Lee has sought to ease tensions with Pyongyang – an area where he is expected to find common ground with Trump, who still points to his historic summits with Kim Jong Un, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
North Korean leader Kim’s influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, ridiculed Lee’s overtures in remarks reported Wednesday by state news agency KCNA.
She accused South Korea of being a “faithful dog” of Washington.
She dismissed Lee’s comments as “gibberish.”
She said his government hides its “confrontational nature” under “a wrapper of peace.”
Kim claimed Seoul was pursuing a two-faced policy by calling for dialogue while continuing joint military drills with the U.S., which maintains about 28,500 troops in South Korea.
KCNA also reported that Kim Jong Un has ordered diplomats to take “preemptive counteraction” against enemy states, though no details were given.
Seoul’s presidential office pushed back, saying Lee’s administration is committed to stability, prosperity, and a new era of joint growth with North Korea. This week, South Korea began dismantling border loudspeakers that had been broadcasting anti-Pyongyang messages.
Meanwhile, South Korea and the U.S. have begun joint military drills, testing upgraded responses to North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal.
North Korea has sharply escalated its weapons program, unveiling more advanced ballistic missiles and expanding nuclear facilities. Earlier this week, Kim Jong Un condemned the joint drills as an “obvious expression of their will to provoke war,” vowing to expand nuclear armament.
Analysts say Pyongyang sees little incentive to engage with Washington, given its strengthening ties with Russia, which offers greater benefits with fewer conditions.
“Kim could eventually respond to Trump to give him the illusion of success, though it would do nothing to reduce the North Korean threat,” said Bruce Klingner, a former U.S. intelligence analyst now with the Mansfield Foundation.
