SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Friday it was “sensible” for a South Korean government official to express regret for alleged civilian drone flights over North Korea but warned of counterattacks if they recur.
The statement by Kim Yo Jong came after South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young on Tuesday expressed “deep regret” over the alleged flights and stressed that Seoul’s liberal government seeks “mutual recognition and peaceful coexistence” between the war-divided rivals.
North Korea threatened retaliation last month after accusing South Korea of launching a surveillance drone flight in September and again in January.
The South Korean government has denied operating any drones during the times specified by North Korea but law enforcement authorities are investigating three civilians suspected of flying drones into the North from border areas.
The development threatens to further dampen prospects for a push by Seoul to resume long-stalled talks with North Korea amid a deepening nuclear standoff.
Kim Yo Jong said Chung’s comments displayed “sensible behavior” but were insufficient as a government response, demanding stronger measures from Seoul to prevent similar activities in the future.
“I give advance warning that reoccurrence of such provocation as violating the inalienable sovereignty of the DPRK will surely provoke a terrible response,” she said, using the initials of North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“Various counterattack plans are on the table and one of them will be chosen without doubt and it will go beyond proportionality,” she said without specifying.
Analysts say North Korea’s drone accusations were likely driven by its efforts to dial up anti-South Korea sentiments ahead of the ruling Workers’ Party congress in late February. North Korea could add leader Kim Jong Un’s declaration of a hostile “two-state” system on the Korean Peninsula in the party constitution during the congress, the first of its kind in five years.
There have been no public talks between the Koreas since 2019 and drone flights are a source of animosity between the rivals.
FILE - A North Korean military guard post, top, and a South Korean post, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on June 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - This photo provided by the North Korean government, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, delivers a speech during a national meeting against the coronavirus, in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Aug. 10, 2022. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Kathy Ruemmler, the top lawyer at storied investment bank Goldman Sachs and former White House counsel to President Barack Obama, announced her resignation Thursday, after emails between her and Jeffrey Epstein showed a close relationship where she described him as an “older brother” and downplayed his sex crimes.
Ruemmler said in a statement that she would "step down as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of Goldman Sachs as of June 30, 2026.”
Up until her resignation, Ruemmler repeatedly tried to distance herself from the emails and other correspondence and had been defiant that she would not resign from Goldman’s top legal post, which she had held since 2020.
While Ruemmler has called Epstein a “monster” in recent statements, she had a much different relationship with Epstein before he was arrested a second time for sex crimes in 2019 and later killed himself in a Manhattan jail. Ruemmler called Epstein “Uncle Jeffrey” in emails and said she adored him.
In a statement before her resignation, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson said Ruemmler “regrets ever knowing him.”
In her statement Thursday, Ruemmler said: “Since I joined Goldman Sachs six years ago, it has been my privilege to help oversee the firm’s legal, reputational, and regulatory matters; to enhance our strong risk management processes; and to ensure that we live by our core value of integrity in everything we do. My responsibility is to put Goldman Sachs’ interests first."
Goldman CEO David Solomonsaid in a separate statement: "As one of the most accomplished professionals in her field, Kathy has also been a mentor and friend to many of our people, and she will be missed. I accepted her resignation, and I respect her decision.”
During her time in private practice after she left the White House in 2014, Ruemmler received several expensive gifts from Epstein, including luxury handbags and a fur coat. The gifts were given after Epstein had already been convicted of sex crimes in 2008 and was registered as a sex offender.
“So lovely and thoughtful! Thank you to Uncle Jeffrey!!!” Ruemmler wrote to Epstein in 2018.
Historically, Wall Street frowns on gift-giving between clients and bankers or Wall Street lawyers, particularly high-end gifts that could pose a conflict of interest. Goldman Sachs requires its employees to get preapproval before receiving or giving gifts from clients, according to the company’s code of conduct, partly in order to not run afoul of anti-bribery laws.
As late as December, Goldman CEO David Solomon described Ruemmler as an “excellent lawyer” and said she had his full faith and backing.
A document that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, photographed Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, shows a photo of Epstein on a inmate report from the Federal Bureau of Prisons . (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
FILE - White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler listens as President Barack Obama speaks at an installation ceremony for FBI Director James Comey at FBI Headquarters, in Washington, Oct. 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
