North Korea Denounces Pelosi’s Visit to South Korea

Aldgra FredlyAugust 9, 2022

North Korea has denounced U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to South Korea, calling it an attempt by Washington to provoke “South Korean conservative forces into confrontation” with Pyongyang.

Pelosi traveled to South Korea on Aug. 4 after visiting Taiwan, where she met with top South Korean legislators and National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo to discuss the U.S.–South Korea alliance.

During the meeting, Pelosi reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to support South Korea’s efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula through deterrence and diplomatic dialogue. Both sides expressed concerns over the “grave situation of rising threats from North Korea.”

Pelosi also visited the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), making her the highest-ranking U.S. official to do so since former President Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un there in 2019.

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) attends the Joint Press Announcement after meeting with South Korean National Assembly speaker Kim Jin-pyo at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on Aug. 4, 2022. (Kim Min-Hee-Pool/Getty Images)

Jo Yong Sam, director general at the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s press and information affairs department, condemned Pelosi’s visit to South Korea and called her “the worst destroyer of international peace and stability.”

“Pelosi, who had come under a volley of due criticism from China for destroying regional peace and stability by visiting Taiwan, stirred up the atmosphere of confrontation with the DPRK during her visit to South Korea,” Jo said in a statement carried by state media, using North Korea’s official acronym.

Pyongyang said that Pelosi’s bilateral talks with South Korean authorities on security alliance and her visit to the DMZ exemplified “the hostile policy” of the Biden administration toward North Korea.

“It would be a fatal mistake for her to think that she can go scot-free in the Korean Peninsula,”