Key facts
- Kim Yo Jong said Guterres echoed South Korea's "unilateral and provocative sophism" over the September 21 blast.
- Kim said the North's fortification of its southern border is a right of self-defense that violates no UN Charter or international law.
- UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Guterres urged the two Koreas to resume dialogue, including at the military level.
- South Korea's October 22 letter to the UN Security Council asked Pyongyang to apologize, remove the mines and prevent a recurrence.
- North Korea has denied responsibility for the September 21 blast, calling Seoul's findings fabricated.
North Korea's Kim Yo Jong said on November 10 that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took a "prejudiced and irresponsible" attitude by echoing South Korea's account of a landmine blast at the border, accusing him of siding with Seoul, state media reported.
Kim, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Guterres backed South Korea's "unilateral and provocative sophism" over the September 21 blast inside the Demilitarized Zone. "The UN secretary-general's behaviour of echoing words of the provokers and patronising them without having proper understanding of the fact is not helpful to the detente," she said in a statement carried by the KCNA news agency.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters Guterres encouraged the two Koreas to resume dialogue, including at the military level, to avoid unintended accidents.
Seoul has said the September 21 blast was caused by North Korean mines and seriously wounded several South Korean soldiers on a reconnaissance mission. A joint investigation by South Korea's military and the UN Command concluded the explosion came from antipersonnel mines deliberately planted by North Korea south of the Military Demarcation Line.
Pyongyang has denied responsibility and called Seoul's findings fabricated. It said its troops were conducting an operation in the DMZ to fortify the border and had not violated the UN Charter or international law. Kim said the fortification is a "right of self-defense."
South Korea raised the incident with the UN Security Council in a letter dated October 22, asking Pyongyang to apologize, remove the mines and prevent a recurrence.