North Korea Warns US Joint Exercises Will Have Unpleasant Consequences
KIM Yo-jong, deputy director of the Central Committee of the ruling party in North Korea and powerful sister of leader KIM jong-un, has issued a serious warning regarding the upcoming joint military drills between the United States, South Korea, and Japan.
The annual combined exercises known as “edge of Freedom” are set to begin on September 15. The drills aim to enhance air, naval, and cyber operational capabilities against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
Speaking to North Korea’s state news agency (KCNA), Kim Yo-jong stated that these exercises serve as a reminder that this reckless show of force by Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul-conducted in sensitive locations including near the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-will inevitably produce negative consequences for them.
South Korean media have also reported that seoul and Washington plan to hold next week another simulation exercise called “Iron Spear,” designed to integrate conventional and nuclear capabilities in response to North Korean threats.
PAEK Jong-chun, another senior official from North Korea’s ruling party, wrote in an official KCNA report: if antagonistic forces continue their provocations through these joint drills, North Korea will take more blatant and stronger countermeasures.
Pyongyang consistently condemns these military exercises as preparations for a preemptive strike against it. In some instances, it has responded with its own weapons tests.However, Seoul and Washington assert that these operations are purely defensive in nature.
