Published : Feb. 23, 2018 - 09:58
WASHINGTON -- US Vice President Mike Pence blasted the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Thursday, calling her a "central pillar" of a regime accused of serious human rights abuses.
He was addressing thousands of people at the Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington following a trip to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, where a secret meeting with the North Koreans was canceled at the last minute.
In media coverage of Pence at the Games' opening ceremony, he appeared to be ignoring the sister, Kim Yo-jong, seated behind him.
US Vice President Mike Pence (left) and North Korea`s Kim Yo-jong (right)(Yonhap)
"You know for all the media fawning over the sister of the North Korean dictator, I think it's important that every American knows who this person is and what she's done," the vice president said. "The sister of Kim Jong-un is a central pillar of the most tyrannical and oppressive regime on the planet -- an evil family clique that brutalizes, subjugates, starves and imprisons its 25 million people."
He reminded the crowd that the US has sanctioned Kim Yo-jong for "her role in abetting North Korea's horrendous human rights abuses and crimes against humanity."
And he cited the example of Otto Warmbier, a US college student who died last year shortly after being sent home from Pyongyang in a coma. Warmbier's father joined Pence on his trip to South Korea.
The vice president was criticized by some for staying seated during the joint march of South Korean and North Korean athletes.
"For all those in the media who think I should have stood and cheered with the North Koreans, I say, the United States of America doesn't stand with murderous dictatorships, we stand up to murderous dictatorships," he said. (Yonhap)