Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned that her country will respond strongly to Washington's "consistent hostile policy" toward Pyongyang, according to North Korean Central News Agency.
Today (Wednesday), the agency quoted Kim Yo Jong as saying: “In light of the current reality, in which the hostile policy of the United States towards the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is escalating, it is natural that our countermeasures will rise to similar levels.”
Her statement came after Pyongyang rejected accusations by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of being behind a hacking operation targeting the Binance cryptocurrency platform, which resulted in the theft of $6.3 billion, at a time when North Korea continues to showcase its military capabilities.
Kim Yo Jong believed that the Binance hacking incident constitutes “an extension of the consistent hostile policy pursued by the United States towards the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”
She added: “It is clear that the United States’ malicious attempt to achieve political and strategic gains by exploiting this issue is having adverse political consequences.”
On Saturday, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation accused North Korea of being behind the theft, blaming a group of North Korean hackers known as Trader Traitor.
North Korea's Central News Agency reported that Pyongyang conducted tests on strategic cruise missiles on Monday.
In her new statement, Kim Yo Jong indicated that her country sees no point in resuming the diplomatic track with the United States.
She said: “Our position is clear. There is no need for us to sit face to face with unreliable and hostile people who refuse to abandon the policy of confrontation while talking about dialogue.”
She added: “The option for peace includes dialogue, of course, but that does not necessarily mean that it is compatible with our national interests.”
On November 19, the International Court of Justice will issue a historic ruling on whether Myanmar’s crackdown on the Rohingya minority amounts to genocide, according to Agence France-Presse.
For 7 years, International Court of Justice judges have been considering accusations submitted by Gambia that Myanmar's brutal repression against the Rohingya constitutes a violation of the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention of Genocide.
Although the International Court of Justice, which is based in The Hague, does not have mechanisms to enforce the implementation of its decisions, issuing a ruling confirming that Myanmar has committed the crime of genocide would increase international pressure on the ruling military junta there, and would also provide justice for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people.
Legal experts are closely monitoring this ruling issued by the International Court of Justice, which adjudicates disputes between countries, searching for indications about the direction the court may take in the case that South Africa filed against Israel on charges of committing “genocide” against the backdrop of its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
For its part, Myanmar has often denied committing genocide against the Rohingya, saying that its measures were aimed at a military rebellion launched by militants, following a series of attacks that killed a number of members of the security forces.
A repressive campaign launched by the Myanmar army and Buddhist groups beginning in 2017 led hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, bringing with them horrific testimonies of mass rapes and widespread field executions.
More than a million Rohingya still live across the border in Bangladesh, the largest refugee population in the world.
