(Seoul) Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and one of his highest advisers, on Sunday castigated comments deemed “irresponsible” by a South Korean minister on Seoul’s ability to carry out strikes against his neighbour.
Posted at 12:54 a.m.
South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook said on Friday that his country had missiles “capable of hitting any target in North Korea precisely and quickly”, as Pyongyang ramped up missile tests in recent months. ballistic weapons and threatens to resume nuclear testing.
“His irresponsible and sweeping rhetoric on ‘preemptive strikes’ has further aggravated inter-Korean relations and military tension on the Korean Peninsula,” Kim Yo Jong was quoted by the official KCNA news agency as saying.
“South Korea could face a serious threat caused by the irresponsible words of its defense minister”, and “should correct its attitude if it wants to avoid disaster”, she added.
Another senior leader of the North Korean regime, the secretary of the central committee of the Workers’ Party Pak Jong Chon, also warned on Sunday against any military action against his country. “Our army will ruthlessly devote all of its military force to destroying major targets in Seoul,” he threatened.
North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on March 24, ending a moratorium it had observed since the end of 2017 on this type of missile launch.
The test, along with a dozen other weapons tests since January, has raised tensions in the region ahead of the inauguration in May of new Sur-Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. , which advocates firmness against Pyongyang and has not ruled out the possibility of preventive strikes against the North in the event that the security of his country is threatened.