North leader’s sister says inter-Korean summit possible with ‘respect’

SEOUL — The influential sister of North Korea’s leader said in a statement on Saturday that an inter-Korean summit could take place, but only if mutual “respect” and “impartiality” are guaranteed.

It was the second statement in two days by Kim Jong-un’s sister and key advisor Kim Yo-jong.

She had on Friday urged Seoul to end its “hostile policies” towards Pyongyang after South Korea’s president called for declaring an official end to the state of war with the North.

The 1950-53 war between the two Koreas ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving Seoul and Pyongyang technically at war for over half-a-century.

An inter-Korean summit between her brother and the South’s Moon Jae-in could be held “only when impartiality and the attitude of respecting each other” are guaranteed, Kim said in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency.

She also said a summit, as well as discussions on a declaration to end the war, could be held “at an early date through constructive discussions”.

“There is no need for the North and the South to waste time faulting each other and engaging in a war of words,” she added.

She also reiterated Friday’s call for the South to drop its “unequal double-standards”, in an apparent reference to Moon’s criticism of the North’s recent missile launches.

Last week, the South successfully test-fired successful a submarine-launched ballistic missile, making it one of a handful of nations with the advanced technology.

North Korea carried out two missile firings this month alone, one involving a long-range cruise missile and the other short-range ballistic missiles.

Communications between the North and South have largely been cut in the aftermath of a second US-North summit in Hanoi that collapsed in February 2019 as then-president Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un couldn’t agree on the terms of an agreement.