Cheong Wa Dae pushes back on Kim Yo-jong's 'clown show' jab at Lee Jae Myung

Cheong Wa Dae on Friday pushed back against Kim Yo-jong, a senior official of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, after she derided the demilitarized zone mine explosion and President Lee Jae Myung's Armed Forces Day address as "Act 2 of a self-directed clown show," urging Pyongyang to "stop its wasteful criticism and join our efforts for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula."

In a notice to reporters that day, Cheong Wa Dae said "disparaging remarks directed at our government and the president do not help build mutual trust."

The palace added that the government would "swiftly and thoroughly investigate the mine explosion to transparently establish the facts and take necessary measures," and that "at the same time, it is necessary to ease military tensions between the two Koreas and resume dialogue and communication to prevent such incidents from recurring."

Earlier, North Korea had lashed out by juxtaposing the Joint Chiefs of Staff's DMZ statement on Wednesday — which referenced North Korea's responsibility for the mine blast — with President Lee's Armed Forces Day address on Thursday, drawing a sharp contrast between the two.

Kim said that "the small fry below (the Joint Chiefs) are busy picking fights with others under the guise of announcing investigation results and official position statements, while the person called president appeared at some kind of ceremony and expressed his 'will' to consistently take practical steps to reduce military tensions."

She then mocked the situation, saying it was "a climactic scene of a clown show too good to watch alone" and that "it seems Act 2 of a self-directed clown show has gone up." She added sarcastically that she hoped the cast would "win great popularity with their performances in 'righteous roles,'" and that "those who put effort into writing the script, directing and performing in this clown show should duly receive a costly 'commendation.'"

She went on to say that "our greatest wish is to permanently sever all ties with those who bring us nothing but headaches," adding that North Korea "will not allow even the slightest room or opening to become entangled with or associate with South Korea in any form."