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North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, sister of supreme leader Kim Jong Un, called South Korea‘s recent live-fire drills “suicidal hysteria” and threatened unspecified military steps if further provoked. Kim Yo Jang’s warning follows South Korea’s firing exercises along its tense land and sea borders with North Korea, the first such drills since suspending a 2018 agreement aimed at easing front-line military tensions.
She accused South Korea’s conservative government of escalating tensions to deflect from a domestic political crisis. She highlighted the riskiness of the drills, which occurred amid a “touch-and-go situation” after a recent US-South Korea-Japan military exercise viewed by North Korea as a threat.
“In case it is judged according to our criteria that they violated the sovereignty of (North Korea) and committed an act tantamount to a declaration of war, our armed forces will immediately carry out its mission and duty assigned by the (North Korean) Constitution,” Kim Yo Jong said.
North Korea has conducted numerous weapons tests since 2022. However, South Korean officials and experts have expressed skepticism over North Korea’s recent tests of a “super-large warhead” missile and a multiwarhead missile, suggesting they may have been fabricated to cover up failed launches.
In early June, South Korea fully suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military pact after North Korea sent balloons carrying manure, cigarette butts, and waste paper across the border in protest against South Korean activists scattering political leaflets into the North.
The military agreement, reached during a brief period of reconciliation between the Koreas, required both countries to cease all hostile acts at border areas, such as live-firing drills, aerial surveillance, and psychological warfare. The deal had been at risk of collapse, with both Koreas breaching it amid tensions over North Korea’s spy satellite launch last November.
She accused South Korea’s conservative government of escalating tensions to deflect from a domestic political crisis. She highlighted the riskiness of the drills, which occurred amid a “touch-and-go situation” after a recent US-South Korea-Japan military exercise viewed by North Korea as a threat.
“In case it is judged according to our criteria that they violated the sovereignty of (North Korea) and committed an act tantamount to a declaration of war, our armed forces will immediately carry out its mission and duty assigned by the (North Korean) Constitution,” Kim Yo Jong said.
North Korea has conducted numerous weapons tests since 2022. However, South Korean officials and experts have expressed skepticism over North Korea’s recent tests of a “super-large warhead” missile and a multiwarhead missile, suggesting they may have been fabricated to cover up failed launches.
In early June, South Korea fully suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military pact after North Korea sent balloons carrying manure, cigarette butts, and waste paper across the border in protest against South Korean activists scattering political leaflets into the North.
The military agreement, reached during a brief period of reconciliation between the Koreas, required both countries to cease all hostile acts at border areas, such as live-firing drills, aerial surveillance, and psychological warfare. The deal had been at risk of collapse, with both Koreas breaching it amid tensions over North Korea’s spy satellite launch last November.
