Daily Beast Runs Puff Piece for ‘Lovely’ Sister of Kim Jong-un

North Korea announced this week that Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, will travel with the North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics this month, marking the first time a member of the Kim dynasty will visit the South.

Donald Kirk, writing in The Daily Beast, is absolutely elated by the North’s decision to send Kim’s sister, describing it as a “charm offensive” against Pyongyang’s enemies. He described Kim Yo Jong, a high-ranking official in North Korea’s oppressive government as “lovely.” Seriously:

Rather than attempt to undermine the Olympics by missile shots, much less threats of terrorism, older brother Kim has resorted to the ultimate weapon in his charm offensive in the form of the lovely Kim Yo Jong, known in both North and South Korea for smiling prettily while saying very little on North Korean TV.

Kirk could barely contain his praise for the North Korean delegation. “She’s sure to become a luminary in the South Koran media,” he wrote.

In the same article, Kirk scolded Vice President Mike Pence for “menacing” calls for Pyongyang to denuclearize:

While Koreans were salivating over the prospect of seeing Kim Yo Jong, Pence in Tokyo was talking darkly of the need for North Korea to “once and for all abandon its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missile ambitions.”

The description of Pence’s desire to remove nuclear weapons from a rogue regime as “darkly” and “menacing” was a strong contrast with his characterization of a high-ranking North Korean official as “lovely.”

If Kirk’s sympathies lie with the North Koreans, he’s doing a poor job of hiding it.