North Korea rebukes UN chief over dialogue call

North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong accused UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday of taking a “prejudiced and irresponsible attitude” after he called for renewed dialogue between Pyongyang and Seoul.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said last week that Guterres was concerned about a possible escalation on the Korean peninsula and had called on both sides “to resume communication channels, including on the military-to-military level, to avoid unintended accidents or miscalculations.”

Tensions have risen since a landmine explosion along the heavily fortified border in September wounded three South Korean soldiers. Seoul blamed the blast on a North Korean mine, while Pyongyang accused South Korea in a letter to the UN Security Council of fabricating the incident.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Guterres had echoed South Korea’s position without a proper understanding of the facts, according to state news agency KCNA.

She said his comments were “not helpful to the detente” and warned that he would share blame if what she called South Korea’s military provocations led to an incident near the border.

Kim also defended North Korea’s efforts to fortify its southern border, calling them a legitimate exercise of self-defence that did not violate the UN Charter.