Kim Yo Jong Cites Jeong Dong-young’s Remarks ... Opposition Launches All-Out Offensive, Calls for Impeachment

[Financial News] On the 8th, the People Power Party went on the offensive, calling for Minister Jeong’s impeachment and dismissal after Kim Yo Jong, director of the General Affairs Department of North Korea’s Workers’ Party, quoted Jeong Dong-young’s remarks in a statement. The party also cited allegations related to South Korea-U.S. intelligence cooperation, including reports that National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok had refused to visit the United States, and called for a sweeping overhaul of the foreign and security policy team.
In a statement that day, Kim said that Jeong had remarked during the previous day’s parliamentary audit by the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee that the North Korean landmine blast “cannot yet be identified as an attack.” Kim claimed in response that “South Korean official Jeong Dong-young himself admitted that it is difficult to conclude that this ‘landmine explosion incident’ was a deliberate attack by our Republic.”
Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, criticized Jeong in a Facebook post, saying, “Even this makes it clear which side Jeong Dong-young is helping,” and, “If Jeong Dong-young’s goal is to give North Korea a way out, then he has completed the task 100%.”
People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won also argued, “Minister Jeong, at this point, you should be impeached.”
People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun sarcastically said, “Congratulations to Minister Jeong on being praised by Kim Yo Jong,” adding, “Even now, stepping down as unification minister and becoming Kim Yo Jong’s chief aide tasked with keeping her in a good mood would be a much faster path to career advancement.” He also took issue with President Lee Jae-myung’s description of North Korea’s landmine attack as an “unfortunate accident.”
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon also criticized the Lee Jae-myung administration, saying, “By distorting the facts itself and calling North Korea’s landmine attack an ‘unfortunate accident’ rather than an attack, the administration gave North Korea an opening to distort the facts in an insulting way.”
The People Power Party also focused on allegations concerning South Korea-U.S. intelligence cooperation. After some media outlets reported allegations that NIS Director Lee Jong-seok had refused to visit the United States and that the NIS had been excluded from a South Korea-U.S.-Japan consultative body on responding to cyber threats, the party called for a personnel shake-up of the government’s foreign and security policy team.
The NIS categorically denied reports that its director had refused to visit the United States. Regarding last March, which reports cited as the time a U.S. visit was being pursued, the NIS said, “The NIS director was in no position to travel abroad at all, as he was focused on response activities, including safeguarding national security and national interests and protecting Korean nationals overseas.”
Na, however, said, “South Korea-U.S. relations are in a state of total collapse. A complete ‘Korea passing’ has become a reality,” and urged, “President Lee must immediately dismiss NIS Director Lee Jong-seok and Minister Jeong Dong-young, who have created a fatal gap in national security.”
People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun also said, “The truth behind the successive allegations surrounding South Korea-U.S. intelligence cooperation must be clearly established,” and argued, “A decision must be made to overhaul the foreign and security policy team in its entirety to restore trust in the alliance.”
Meanwhile, allegations of attempts to persuade North Korean defectors to return to the North were also raised during the previous day’s parliamentary audit by the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. Park Chung-kwon, the People Power Party’s chief spokesperson and a North Korean defector, claimed he had received a tip that the Ministry of Unification’s Settlement Support Division and Lawyers for a Democratic Society were encouraging defectors resettled in South Korea to return to North Korea by asking whether they intended to go back. The allegations have not yet been verified.

[email protected] Kim Gyeong-min Reporter