Foreign Affairs Minister Kang made an appearance on YTN News on September 13, in which she discussed a number of topics ranging from the recently declared U.N. sanctions on North Korea to a bizarre controversy over her crop of silver hair. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – Foreign Affairs Minister Kang made an appearance on YTN News on September 13, in which she discussed a number of topics ranging from the recently declared U.N. sanctions on North Korea to a bizarre controversy over her crop of silver hair.
Kang expounded on the government’s position regarding the announced sanctions limiting North Korean oil imports, saying, “For us, we welcomed [the latest U.N. sanctions] as we saw that they contained newly prohibitive restrictions that make them significantly tougher and will put real pressure on North Korea.”
In response to the news anchor’s prompt that “the U.S. State Department commented on the sanction resolution as the bare minimum and President Trump also rated it as unsatisfactory,” Kang replied, “There will be more areas to include in the sanctions going forward, and I believe that [the U.N. Security Council] is focused on the importance of diligently carrying out both previously and recently approved sanctions.”
She further explained that “[the South Korean government] worked closely with the United States from the start” and that “the finalized resolution did not include as many restrictive measures as the first draft, but through negotiations countries were able to arrive at a compromise as drafts are meant to present the boundaries of what is possible”.
Kang mentioned the government’s view that both Russia and China, typically reluctant to punish North Korea, consider the isolated nation’s sixth nuclear test as unacceptable and share in the global community’s opinion that North Korea must completely de-commission its nuclear program through a process that is open to outside inspection.
When asked the question “Do you believe North Korea is willing to give up its nuclear program”, Kang answered, “As of now, it most certainly is not willing to do so, which is why it is continuing its provocations. The latest sanctions are a message from the global community that it will not tolerate the escalation of nukes and missiles.”
In an odd bit of news, Kang also commented on the hubbub stemming from a National Assembly hearing held on September 12, where Assemblyman Kim Joong Ro of the People’s Party told Kang “Your white hair looks cool” and “They say white hair dye is sold out, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be successful like that.”
What followed was a war of words between various parties, with allegations of misogyny thrown in the mix.
When asked by the anchor for her thoughts on the matter, Kang briefly acknowledged that her hair had made her quite famous, but that lately she has begun to feel that the popularity of her hair has started to interfere with her work.
When asked by the anchor for her thoughts on the matter, Kang briefly acknowledged that her hair had made her quite famous, but that lately she has begun to feel that the popularity of her hair has started to interfere with her work. (Image: Yonhap)
S.B.W. (sbw266@koreabizwire.com)
