The South Korean Foreign Ministry has defended Minister Kang Kyung-wha’s recent remarks on North Korea’s COVID-19 response, saying they were aimed at highlighting cross-border cooperation against the pandemic. 

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Choi Young-sam relayed the position in a regular media briefing on Thursday a day after Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued harsh criticism of Kang for questioning Pyongyang’s claim that the nation has had zero COVID-19 cases. 

Choi said Kang made the remarks while emphasizing the need for international cooperation, including with North Korea, to cope with the virus. 

Speaking at a Middle East forum in Bahrain last week, Kang said that the North has been unresponsive to Seoul's offer of assistance for the North's antivirus efforts and that its claim of zero cases, given its all-out efforts to contain the disease, is “hard to believe.”

Kim berated Kang in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA), accusing the minister of being eager to further chill inter-Korean relations with her “impudent” remarks.

Kim, the first vice director of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party, also said she will never forget Kang's words and she might have to pay dearly for them.