North Korea's Kim Yo-jong warns U.S. against "causing a stink"
16 March 2021
Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Monday warned the Biden administration to "refrain from causing a stink," according to the state-run KCNA news agency.
Why it matters: Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are visiting South Korea and Japan for key meetings with the U.S. allies this week.
- Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a Korea expert at King's College London, noted in a statement that Kim's warning was an "attempt to change the narrative" from discussions with allies about China to "North Korea's threats to bring instability."
What she's saying: "We take this opportunity to warn the new U.S. administration trying hard to give off powder smell in our land," said Kim, who holds a high-ranking position in North Korea's only political party.
- "If it wants to sleep in peace for coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step."
- She also reiterated North Korea's opposition to the U.S. and South Korea's annual joint military exercises, accusing the nations of launching a "war game" against Pyongyang with the launch of the latest one on the Korean Peninsula this month.
"War exercises and dialogue, hostility and cooperation can never exist together."
Kim Yo-jong
Of note: The warning comes hours after White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the Biden administration had "not received any response" from North Korea on the issue of dialogue with the U.S.
- The Biden administration did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.