North Korea leader’s sister warns Seoul-Washington drills bring ‘terrible consequences’
The Straits Times
Ms Kim Yo Jong said the drills are taking place at a critical time when global security structure is collapsing rapidly. Read more at straitstimes.com.
SEOUL – The powerful sister of North Korea’s leader warned of “terrible consequences” on March 10 over annual South Korea-US military drills, weeks after Pyongyang dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul.
Seoul and Washington kicked off their springtime military drills “Freedom Shield” on March 9, which will involve about 18,000 Korean troops and run until March 19.
It is unclear how many US troops will be involved at this time.
The nuclear-armed North, which attacked its neighbour in 1950 triggering the Korean War, has long described the exercises as rehearsals for invasion.
Ms Kim Yo Jong, a powerful confidante of her brother Kim Jong Un, said the joint drills “may cause unimaginably terrible consequences,” Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
She was recently promoted to head the North Korean ruling party’s general affairs department – a role analysts describe as akin to a party secretary-general.
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