The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued a warning on Friday of “overwhelming nuclear deterrence” unless the United States abandoned what she called its “hostile policy” against Pyongyang, reported state media.
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Kim Yo Jong also defended the launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from North Korea, calling it an act of self-defense.
The missile traveled 1,001 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 6,648 km before crashing into the East Sea, the official KCNA news agency said, using the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.
Its trajectory suggested it was capable of reaching United States territory, analysts said.
“Assuming that the United States does not agree to abandon its anti-North Korea policy […] we will strive to put in place the most overwhelming nuclear deterrent,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by KCNA.
The launch was an “exercise in self-defense […] to protect the Korean Peninsula from nuclear war,” she said, adding that no one could blame Pyongyang for Washington’s “hostile policy.”
She then denounced as “unfair and biased” the reaction to the launch of the UN Security Council.
In a joint statement, 10 of the 15 members of the Security Council, including South Korea, condemned the latest test and noted that the 20 ballistic missile launches by the North in 2023 were “all gross violations of several Council resolutions. of security”.
Earlier this week, Kim Yo Jong accused US military surveillance planes of violating North Korean airspace, warning they could be shot down.
In response to North Korea’s spate of missile launches this year, Seoul and Washington have stepped up security cooperation, saying Pyongyang would face a nuclear response if it ever used nuclear weapons against allies.