In a fiery statement, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, lambasted Seoul and Washington for their recent military exercises near the North-South border, warning that the allies had "crossed the red line."
"The war maniacs should judge by themselves what result such desperate war drill hysteria would bring in the end," Kim Yo Jong declared on Sunday. This comes amid the most unstable relations between the Koreas in decades. South Korea has condemned North Korea's recent missile launches, while Pyongyang has accused Seoul of provocative joint military exercises with the United States. Additionally, the burgeoning arms trade between Russia and North Korea, coupled with a new mutual military treaty, has further exacerbated tensions.
Kim Yo Jong specifically criticized South Korea's recent resumption of live-fire drills near its land border with the North and in the Yellow Sea near the de facto maritime border. She labeled these drills as "reckless" and "suicidal hysterical," warning that South Korea would "sustain terrible disaster" as a consequence. She also condemned last month's three-day Freedom Edge exercise, the first-ever multi-domain joint military drills involving the U.S., South Korea, and Japan, describing it as the "height of confrontational hysteria" against North Korea.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, in a statement at the start of the trilateral exercise, emphasized that the event underscored the participating countries' resolve to enhance interoperability and "protect freedom for peace and stability" on the Korean Peninsula and in the broader Indo-Pacific region.
In her heated rhetoric, Kim also targeted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, accusing him of escalating tensions with the North to distract from domestic "crisis." She pointed to an online petition calling for Yoon's impeachment, which has garnered over 1 million signatures.
"History has shown time and again that North Korea will always find whatever 'reason' it chooses to get itself and its people riled up against the South and the United States," remarked Sean King, an Asia scholar and senior vice president of New York-based consultancy Park Strategies, in an interview with Newsweek. He described the Freedom Edge exercise as "a watershed moment in U.S.-South Korea-Japan trilateral cooperation."
In a press release, the South Korean Army stated it had conducted artillery training at a firing range within three miles of the Military Demarcation Line. The objective of the exercise was to bolster "response capabilities and fire preparedness" in light of potential North Korean provocations.
This artillery drill occurred just a day after South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that North Korea had launched two short-range ballistic missiles, potentially in response to the Freedom Edge exercise. According to Seoul, one missile splashed down off the North Korean coast in the Sea of Japan, while the other might have impacted near Pyongyang.
Additionally, last month saw South Korean forces resume live-fire drills near the unofficial boundary separating North and South-controlled waters in the Yellow Sea. This training followed North Korea's launch of a suspected hypersonic missile, which Seoul reported exploded mid-flight over the Sea of Japan.
These live-fire drills were the first in the area since 2018, the year the Koreas signed an agreement to ban such activities along the border to reduce tensions. In recent months, both countries have announced the suspension of this pact, signaling a renewed escalation in military posturing on the Korean Peninsula.
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