Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 4 March 2020
In her 1st official statement, Kim's sister slams S. Korea

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Earlier Tuesday, state me-
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) dia said Kim Jong Un su-
— In her first known official pervised a live-fire rocket
statement, the younger sis- artillery exercise in an ap-
ter of North Korean leader parent reference to the
Kim Jong Un on Tuesday two short-range ballistic
leveled diatribes and insults missile launches reported
on South Korea for protest- by South Korea's military a
ing over her country's latest day earlier. On Saturday,
live-fire exercises. North Korea said Kim Jong
Believed to be in her early Un also guided an artillery
30s, Kim Yo Jong is in charge drill aimed at testing the
of propaganda affairs and combat readiness of mili-
has frequently appeared tary units.
at her brother's major pub- The back-to-back firing ex-
lic events including summits ercises were an apparent
with U.S. President Donald show of force by Kim, who
Trump and other regional had earlier vowed to bol-
leaders. But her statement ster his nuclear deterrent
carried by state media, the and warned of "shocking
first in kind, indicated her action" over now-stalled
political status has been nuclear negotiations with
further elevated. Trump. The latest firing drills
In the statement, she criti- were his first weapons tests
cized South Korea's presi- since late November.
dential office of Blue House In this March 2, 2019, file photo, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attends a Kim Yo Jong's statement
for expressing strong con- wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam. was issued in her capacity
cerns over the North's firing Associated Press as a first vice-department
drills and urging it to stop director of the Workers
such an act that doesn't ware," Kim Yo Jong said. Describing the Blue House Korean President Moon Party's Central Committee.
contribute to efforts to re- "They meant they need to as "a mere child" and "a Jae-in, whom she met sev- She also serves as an alter-
duce military animosities. get militarily prepared but burnt child dreading fire," eral times. She only said: nate member of the North's
"As far as I know, the South we should be discouraged she went on to say that "The South side's response powerful Politburo and a
side is also fond of joint mili- from military exercises. "How come can all its is so regretful and disap- member of the rubber-
tary exercises and it is pre- Such a gangster-like asser- words and acts be so per- pointing but it is somewhat stamp parliament. South
occupied with all the dis- tion can never be expect- fectly foolish in detail." fortunate that it was not di- Korean officials and experts
gusting acts like purchasing ed from those with normal Kim Yo Jong still didn't men- rect statement of the presi- say she's virtually the North's
ultra-modern military hard- way of thinking." tion by name liberal South dent." top propaganda official.q

China denounces U.S. cap on reporter numbers as prejudicial

BEIJING (AP) — China on Department suppressed authorized to work for U.S.
Tuesday denounced a Chinese media agencies news outlets inside China,
move by the Trump admin- with political means in the according to the White
istration to cap the number United States for unex- House.
of Chinese state-run media plained reasons," Zhao said Last month, the adminis-
journalists who can work in at a daily briefing. China re- tration designated Xinhua,
the United States as "based serves the right to take fur- CGTN and three others as
on the Cold War mentality ther measures in response, foreign missions, requiring
and ideological prejudice." he said. them to register their prop-
The State Department an- The U.S. announcement erties and employees in the
nounced Monday that a followed the expulsion last U.S. The State Department
total of 100 journalists from month by China of three said that was in recognition
five outlets would be given Wall Street Journal report- of the fact that "they are
visas, citing in part China's ers over an opinion column effectively controlled" by
increasingly harsh surveil- headline that the foreign Oct. 10, 2017, file photo, journalists raise their hands in the White the Chinese government.
lance, harassment and ministry called racist, and House press room during the daily briefing, in Washington. Chinese citizens working
intimidation of American the release of survey re- Associated Press for other media organiza-
and other foreign journalists sults by the Foreign Corre- tions in the United States
in China for the move. spondents' Club of China addition to expelling four tions on the content of are unaffected by the cap,
The decision "severely in- showing a continuing dete- since August. It called that Chinese media but that it is the State Department said.
terrupted Chinese media's rioration in working condi- "one of the most brazen seeking "reciprocity" and a China's ruling Commu-
normal reporting tasks in tions for overseas media in attempts in the post-Mao "level playing field." nist Party and state outlets
the United States (and) se- China. Zedong era to influence The five Chinese outlets, now dominate Chinese-
riously tarnished Chinese The FCCC report found foreign news organizations including the Xinhua News language media in the U.S.
media's reputation," for- that Chinese authorities and to punish those whose Agency and China Global and have made inroads
eign ministry spokesman have "weaponized visas" work the Chinese govern- Television Network, cur- into the struggling main-
Zhao Lijian said Tuesday. for foreign media by issuing ment deems unaccept- rently employ about 160 stream English-language
"Based on the Cold War press credentials with short- able." Chinese citizens in the U.S. press through vast ad pur-
mentality and ideological ened terms of validity to a The U.S. said it is not plan- There are about 75 Ameri- chases and the placement
prejudice, the U.S. State dozen journalists in 2019, in ning to place any restric- cans and other foreigners of newspaper inserts.q