NKorea: Kim Jong Un's Sister Rejects Dialogue with US

Facts

• Kim Jo Yong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has dismissed Western calls for her country to stop its spy satellite launch program. Referring to a UN Security Council meeting last Monday to discuss the issue, she called it a 'gangster-like demand of the U.S. and its followers.'¹
• She further stated that Pyongyang wouldn't speak with the US because 'The sovereignty of an independent state can never be an agenda item for negotiations...' The North's satellite launches violate several UN resolutions that prohibit the North from conducting any ballistic launches, whether it be missiles or satellites.²
• She reportedly referred to recent US deployments of military aircraft and nuclear-powered submarines to the region, which are in line with previous US-South Korea agreements to boost their defense against the North's growing nuclear threats. Her brother has also stated that his country needs spy satellites to monitor its rivals and strengthen its precision-guided missile strike capabilities.³
• The North last week said it already launched its 'Malligyong-1' spy satellite into orbit with the ability to observe US and South Korean sites, though Western officials doubt its ability to produce significant high-resolution imagery.¹
• North Korean state media on Nov. 28 claimed Kim Jong Un had also seen satellite photos of the White House, Pentagon, and aircraft carriers at a naval base in Norfolk, Va.²
• After collecting debris from the North's first satellite launch that failed, South Korean officials have claimed that Russia helped Pyongyang successfully launch its subsequent satellite. While the South isn't worried about the technological capabilities of the current space assets, Seoul does worry about Moscow providing technological assistance for better ones.¹

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²Outlook India and ³ABC News.

Narratives

• Anti-North Korea Narrative, as provided by The Guardian. Whether it's as sophisticated as other launch systems or not, the fact that North Korea can successfully launch a satellite means it's on its way to putting ballistic missiles into space as well. This is a next-level threat to Japan, South Korea, and the US, to which each respective military should be concerned. South Korea can point out flaws in the North's technological pursuits all it wants, but the West cannot be complacent as Pyongyang works with the likes of Russia and China to advance its lethal rocket programs.
• Pro-North Korea narrative, as provided by NK News. Kim Jo Yong hasn't rejected the possibility of dialogue with the US, only the current, disingenuous ones being offered as Washington continues to ramp up its military presence in the South. Pyongyang has every right to develop the same defensive security measures that its increasingly aggressive adversaries have built. As for quelling tensions, that's up to South Korea and its antagonistic partners who have yet to stop provoking the North militarily.

Predictions