Kim Yo Jong accuses UN chief Guterres of siding with South Korea over DMZ mine blast

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has accused UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of taking South Korea’s side over a landmine blast on the border. Her statement was carried by the North’s official KCNA news agency, Reuters reported on 10 November.

Ms. Kim said Mr. Guterres had taken a “prejudiced” and irresponsible stand by repeating what she called South Korea’s one-sided claim about the blast. She said his conduct was not helpful to easing tensions.

The blast

The explosion happened on 21 September inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the strip of land that divides the two Koreas. It seriously wounded three South Korean soldiers on a reconnaissance patrol.

South Korea’s military concluded that North Korean mines were most likely to blame, and a joint inquiry with the US-led UN Command reached the same finding, according to reports at the time. Seoul then wrote to the president of the UN Security Council about the incident.

North Korea denies responsibility. It says its troops were carrying out work in the DMZ to fortify the border and broke no international law. Ms. Kim has called the South’s findings a conspiracy and warned of retaliation if South Korean troops fire on North Korean soldiers working near the border.

Why it matters

Mr. Guterres had urged the two Koreas to restart dialogue and restore their communication links after the blast. The Korea Times reported that Ms. Kim’s statement rejected that call, and that she described the border work as self-defence.

Ms. Kim is one of the most senior officials in North Korea and often speaks for Pyongyang on relations with the South. The United Nations had not responded publicly to her statement when this story was published.