Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s influential sister, has accused the United States of waging a «proxy war» against Russia.
The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has condemned the US decision to provide Ukraine with advanced battle tanks to help fight Russian forces, accusing Washington of crossing a «red line» and to escalate a «proxy war» designed to destroy Moscow.
Kim Yo Jong’s comments on Friday underscored North Korea’s deepening alignment with Russia over the war in Ukraine as it also confronts the United States and its Asian allies over its own growing agenda. nuclear weapons and missiles.
«I express my deep concern over the escalation of the war situation by the United States by providing Ukraine with military equipment for a ground offensive,» Kim Yo Jong said in a statement, his first public remarks. for months.
«The United States is the ultimate criminal that poses a serious threat and challenge to Russia’s strategic security and pushes the regional situation to the current serious stage,» said Kim, who is deputy director of the Committee Department. head of the Workers’ Party of Korea. .
«I have no doubt that any military hardware that the United States and the West boast of will be torn to pieces in the face of the indomitable fighting spirit and might of the heroic Russian army and people,» he said. she said, adding that North Korea will always «stand in the same trench» with Russia.
Kim’s comments, carried by the country’s official Korean Central News Agency, came after the United States announced it would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, reversing months of Washington’s indecision on the issue. . The US announcement followed Germany’s decision to also supply Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from its own stocks.
NEW: Kim Jong Un’s sister has criticized the US for sending tanks to Ukraine.
In a statement released Friday by KCNA, Kim Yo Jong criticized Washington for «crossing the line» and exposing Europe to «grave danger». https://t.co/9rIi0HWRSj
— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) January 28, 2023
Kim said US President Joe Biden’s administration was «crossing the red line further» by sending its main tanks into Ukraine and that the decision reflected a «sinister intent to achieve its hegemonic goal by further expanding proxy warfare to destroy the Russia».
North Korea has blamed the United States for the crisis in Ukraine, insisting that the West’s «hegemonic policy» has forced Russia to take military action to protect its security interests.
North Korea is also the only country other than Russia and Syria to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, and has also hinted at plans to send workers there to help with reconstruction efforts.
The United States has accused North Korea of sending large quantities of artillery shells and other ammunition to Russia to support its offensive in Ukraine, although North Korea has repeatedly denied this affirmation.
Pyongyang has also accelerated its weapons development, testing more than 70 missiles in 2022 alone, including potentially nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles.
