Is Kim Yo-jong’s rebuke a sign North Korea is ditching Asean diplomacy?

A rare rebuke of Asean by the powerful sister of North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un signals the bloc’s waning relevance to the nuclear-armed state, analysts say. Kim Yo-jong on Monday condemned a call by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for the country’s denuclearisation, saying the statement “distorted the essence of the situation in the Korean peninsula”. At the annual Asean Regional Forum held in the Philippines last Thursday, Asean expressed “grave concern” over the ongoing…