Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, strongly criticized South Korea’s recent front-line live-fire drills, labeling them as “suicidal hysteria” and issuing a warning of potential military retaliation if further provoked. These remarks from Kim Yo Jong came in response to South Korea’s firing exercises conducted along its tense land and sea borders with North Korea over the past two weeks. These drills mark the first of their kind since South Korea halted a 2018 agreement with North Korea, which was designed to reduce front-line military tensions, in June.
In a statement carried by state media, Kim Yo Jong questioned the motive behind the South Korean drills, accusing the conservative government of deliberately escalating tensions to deflect from domestic political issues. She highlighted the precarious nature of the situation, especially following a recent joint military exercise involving the U.S., South Korea, and Japan, which North Korea perceives as a security threat. Kim Yo Jong warned that if North Korea determines that its sovereignty has been violated and an act equivalent to a declaration of war has occurred, their armed forces will promptly fulfill their duties as outlined in the North Korean Constitution, without specifying further details.
North Korea has been conducting a series of provocative weapons tests since 2022, with two recent tests drawing skepticism from South Korean officials and experts. The tests, involving a missile with “a super-large warhead” and a multiwarhead missile, are believed by some to be exaggerated successes masking actual failures. Relations between North and South Korea further strained in early June when South Korea suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military pact after North Korea protested against political leaflets sent by South Korean activists via balloons by flying balloons carrying various materials across the border.
The now-defunct military agreement, established during a brief period of reconciliation between the two Koreas, mandated ceasing all hostile actions at border areas, including live-firing drills, aerial surveillance, and psychological warfare. The agreement had been in jeopardy for some time, with both Koreas breaching its terms amid escalating tensions following North Korea’s spy satellite launch in November of the previous year.
