(Seoul) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, criticized Seoul on Monday for firing warning shots near the Demilitarized Zone, saying the South must be “suicidal” and warning of a “terrible disaster.”
Since late May, Pyongyang has sent more than a thousand balloons carrying waste to the South, presented as retaliation for South Korean activists sending balloons carrying propaganda.
In response, Seoul last month suspended a military deal aimed at reducing tensions and resumed live-fire drills on border islands near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the Korean Peninsula.
The influential sister of the North Korean leader, who regularly serves as the regime’s spokeswoman, said the South Korean military’s resumption of live-fire exercises on the islands represented “an open war game and an inexcusable and explicit provocation that escalates the situation,” in a statement carried by KCNA, the official news agency.
These warning shots are part of “suicidal hysteria for which they will have to suffer a terrible disaster,” she added.
She said it was “clear to everyone that the South Korean military’s live-fire exercises were approaching the border of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the country’s official name.
If they continue, “our armed forces will immediately fulfill their mission,” Kim Yo Jong further warned, without giving further details.
She blamed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose popularity ratings have been falling, for the situation, saying it was his way of trying to divert attention.
Mr Yoon, who took office in 2022, was recently the subject of a petition calling for his impeachment.
“The world should pay attention to the fact that the number of people who signed the petition […] “has exceeded one million,” Kim Yo Jong said.
Seoul said Monday it was “very regrettable that North Korea is interfering in our internal affairs, including by criticizing our head of state.”
“We would like to clarify once again that North Korea’s attempts to divide public opinion in our society will never work,” the government added.
As of Monday, the petition had garnered about 1.3 million signatures, well over the 50,000 needed to trigger its consideration by parliament. It is unlikely to have any impact.
The South Korean army announced that it had fired warning shots on June 21, the day after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the demarcation line, marking the third incursion since the beginning of the month.
Relations between the North and the South are currently going through one of the most tense periods in years. The two countries remain technically at war, with the conflict between them from 1950 to 1953 ending in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Kim Yo Jong also criticized the latest joint military exercises held in late June between South Korea, Japan and the United States.
“The drums of war have clearly shown that the reckless maneuvers of the United States and other hostile forces for military hegemony in the region have crossed the red line,” she said.