Kim Yo Jong condemns joint military exercises as a provocative act that threatens regional stability and reveals hostile policies.
SEOUL: North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong has denounced ongoing joint US-South Korea military exercises as a “provocative and aggressive war rehearsal” that will harm regional stability.
The influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un issued the statement via state media KCNA on Tuesday. She said the annual Freedom Shield drills reveal the allies’ “habitual hostile policy” towards Pyongyang.
Kim described the exercises as involving more than 18,000 South Korean and US forces. She claimed they are being staged “day and night across the territorial ground, sea, air, outer space and cyberspace” of North Korea.
South Korea and the United States maintain the drills, running from March 9 to 19, are “defensive in nature”. Officials stated they incorporate deterrence scenarios related to North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
The exercise also supports preparations for the transfer of US wartime operational control to South Korea. Seoul aims to complete the handover of military command from the US before President Lee Jae Myung’s term ends in 2030.
The drills follow Kim Jong Un’s recent pledge to expand North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. He made the declaration at a ruling Party Congress last month.
