North Korea Dismisses South’s Peace Efforts as ‘Miscalculation,’ Rules Out Talks.
North Korea has firmly rejected recent overtures from South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, calling them a “great miscalculation” and reaffirming its disinterest in any dialogue with Seoul.
In a statement carried by state media on Monday, Kim Yo Jong — sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a senior official in the ruling Workers’ Party — dismissed Lee’s proposals for reconciliation and criticized his continued alignment with the United States.
“If South Korea expects to reverse all the consequences of its actions with a few sentimental words, there could be no greater miscalculation,” Kim said, adding that Pyongyang has no interest in any policies or proposals from Seoul and sees “nothing to discuss.”
President Lee, who took office on June 4 after a snap election following the impeachment of conservative predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, has vowed to restore inter-Korean ties, which have deteriorated in recent years. As goodwill gestures, his administration halted propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts along the border and banned the launch of anti-North Korea leaflets.
But Kim Yo Jong dismissed these steps as meaningless. “Those moves merely reverse hostile acts that should never have happened in the first place. They are not even worth our assessment,” she said.
Lee’s outreach efforts had sparked cautious optimism in the South, especially after North Korea also silenced its own border loudspeakers — a move Lee noted happened “faster than expected.” However, hopes of renewed dialogue now appear increasingly remote.
Despite advocating peace with the North, President Lee has reaffirmed South Korea’s strong security ties with Washington. On Sunday, marking the anniversary of the Korean War armistice, he stated, “Through efforts in politics, economic security, and culture, we will strengthen the South Korea-US alliance that was sealed in blood.”
North Korea observed the anniversary — known there as Victory Day — with events in Pyongyang, though reports suggest this year’s celebrations were more subdued than in the past.
The Korean War (1950–53) ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. North and South Korea remain technically at war, along with the United States and China, the conflict’s other primary parties.
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