North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, slammed the United States and South Korea for going ahead with their annual joint military exercises, calling them dangerous for global security and warning of “terrible consequences” if North Korea’s safety is threatened.
Her remarks came Tuesday, a day after the allies launched the 11-day ‘Freedom Shield’ drills, which involve thousands of troops and coincide with heightened U.S. military operations in the Middle East. Without explicitly mentioning the Iran conflict, Kim Yo Jong said the exercises undermine regional stability at a time when global security is “collapsing rapidly” and conflicts are erupting worldwide due to “reckless acts of outrageous international rogues.”
Freedom Shield is a largely computer-simulated exercise aimed at testing U.S.-South Korea joint operational capabilities, often accompanied by the ‘Warrior Shield’ field training program. North Korea has long described such drills as rehearsals for invasion and frequently responds with its own weapons tests, while the allies maintain the exercises are defensive.
Highlighting Pyongyang’s growing nuclear capabilities, Kim Yo Jong said North Korea would continue strengthening its “destructive power” and repeatedly demonstrate its war deterrence against perceived threats.
Meanwhile, South Korean President ‘Lee Jae Myung’acknowledged that some U.S. defensive systems, including Patriot missiles, may be moved from South Korea to support Middle East operations but stressed such relocations would not seriously weaken Seoul’s defenses against the North.
North Korea has criticized U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran as “illegal acts of aggression” disguised as peacekeeping. Amid a diplomatic freeze with Washington and Seoul, Kim Jong Un has leaned into a Cold War-style foreign policy, boosting ties with Moscow and Beijing, while portraying Pyongyang as part of a united front against the U.S. Pyongyang and Tehran were among the few nations supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and have been accused of supplying military aid to Moscow.
On a separate note, South Korea’s ‘Unification Ministry’said train services between Pyongyang and Beijing may resume this week for the first time in six years, potentially expanding exchanges and trade after border restrictions eased in 2022. Kim has also sought closer ties with China, meeting President ‘Xi Jinping’last September for their first summit in six years.