The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday denounced the South Korean and United States’ joint military drills as the “most vivid expression” of Washington’s hostile policy toward Pyongyang.
Kim Yo-jong expressed “deep regret” to South Korea’s “perfidious behaviour” as the South kicked off a preliminary training with the U.S. in the run-up to next week’s main exercise.
Earlier she had warned that such manoeuvres would cloud inter-Korean relations.
She said the exercise shows that U.S. calls for unconditional talks and diplomatic engagement with the North are nothing but hypocrisy designed to conceal its ulterior intention of invasion.
She vowed to further strengthen the country’s “deterrent of absolute capacity” to cope with U.S. military threats.
In a statement, she said, “They are the most vivid expression of the U.S. hostile policy towards the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] DPRK, designed to stifle our state by force, and an unwelcoming act of self-destruction for which a dear price should be paid as they threaten the safety of our people and further imperil the situation on the Korean Peninsula.”
She added that “we will put more spur to further increasing the deterrent of absolute capacity to cope with the ever-growing military threats from the U.S., i.e. the national defence capabilities and powerful preemptive strike for rapidly countering any military actions against us.”
She said the statement was issued “upon authorization,” suggesting that her brother and leader Kim Jong-un authorized its release.
“Availing myself of this opportunity, I would like to express my deep regret at the perfidious behaviour of the South Korean authorities,” she said.
Kim demanded U.S. forces stationed in South Korea be withdrawn.
“For peace to settle on the peninsula, it is imperative for the U.S. to withdraw its aggression troops and war hardware deployed in South Korea,” she said. “As long as the U.S. forces stay in South Korea, the root cause for the periodic aggravation of the situation on the Korean peninsula will never vanish.”
South Korea stressed that the exercise is purely defensive and will be conducted in a scaled-back manner through computer simulation involving no outdoor drills.
But Kim Yo-jong rejected the argument.
“Whatever the scale and mode, the joint military exercises are of aggressive nature as they are a war rehearsal and preliminary nuclear war exercise for further rounding off the preparations for putting into practice the operational plan with the preemptive strike at us as the gist,” she said.
The unification ministry in Seoul said that tensions should never be heightened on the Korean Peninsula under any circumstances, adding that it will closely monitor North Korea’s future actions and brace for any possibilities.
In Washington, the U.S. Department of Defense declined to comment on the North’s statement.
“We don’t have a comment on the DPRK statements. In accordance with CFC Policy, we do not comment on planned or conducted training readiness,” Lt. Col. Martin Meiners told Yonhap News Agency in an email. CFC refers to the Combined Forces Command between South Korea and the U.S.
