Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The US and a number of allies conducted naval drills near Guam earlier this month, a move Pyongyang sees as a threat.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, lashed out at Washington over joint exercises involving allied nations on Friday.
According to state media KCNA, reported by AFP and Agerpres, she warned of a tougher response.
“The current situation, in which new records are being broken in terms of practical hostile actions against the DPRK, emphasizes the need to set new records in our counter-actions, which will be proportionate or more offensive in nature,” said Kim Yo Jong.
She serves as director of the ruling Workers’ Party General Affairs Department. As a prominent regime figure, she routinely denounces foreign rivals.
Pacific naval drills
Her remarks followed major naval drills held near Guam from August 29 to September 10. Warships from the US, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand took part in exercise Pacific Vanguard.
The US military emphasized that the exercise aimed to strengthen joint naval capabilities. Leadership in Pyongyang saw things very differently.
“The regular war exercises conducted by the United States are the main source of the constant worsening of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region,” Kim Yo Jong said.
Calling the exercise a “US-led war rehearsal”, she warned that “our will to defend our sovereignty will be expressed through clearer action and there will never, ever be a shift in the direction of intensifying nuclear war deterrence”.
Threat of mobilization
She also warned that North Korea stands ready to use its military arsenal if pushed.
“I once again remind the enemy that if it is deemed that the supreme interests of our nation, as well as its military sovereignty and the security environment in the region, have been seriously violated by their military maneuvers, the DPRK armed forces will apply relevant provisions, faithful to their constitutional obligations, and mobilize all available means to deal with them,” she added.
Pyongyang views atomic weapons as the ultimate shield for regime survival after its first nuclear test in 2006. Under heavy UN sanctions, disarmament talks have been stalled since a 2019 summit failed.
