North Korea denounces “muscle show” military exercises between the United States and South Korea | military news

North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong said the annual “Freedom Shield” exercises could have “unimaginably dire consequences.”

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused the United States and South Korea of ​​“destroying stability” in East Asia, as the two countries begin their annual 10-day joint military exercises on the Korean Peninsula.

“The show of force by hostile forces near our state’s sovereignty and security areas may cause unimaginably dire consequences,” Kim Yo Yong said Tuesday, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“Enemies should never try to test our patience, will and ability,” Kim said.

“We will observe to what extent the enemy violates the security of our State and what it plays,” he continued.

Kim’s statements come after the start of the joint Freedom Shield exercises on Monday, which will last 10 days and in which 18,000 South Korean and US military personnel will participate.

The military exercises are designed to “enhance the combined, joint, all-domain, and interagency operating environment, thereby strengthening the Alliance’s response capabilities,” U.S. Forces Korea said.

This year’s Freedom Shield will include 22 field training drills, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, less than half the number held last year.

Kim added on Tuesday that there was no justification for carrying out the exercises, which Washington and Seoul have in the past characterized as “defensive” action.

“No matter what justification they may establish and how the elements of the exercise may be coordinated, the clear confrontational nature of the large-scale, high-intensity war exercise organized by the most hostile entities in collusion on (North Korea’s) doorstep never changes,” he said.

“The recent global geopolitical crisis and complicated international events demonstrate that all military maneuvers of field war troops, which will be carried out by enemy states, do not assume any distinction between defense and attack, training and actual war,” he continued, in an apparent reference to the US and Israeli war against Iran.

Technically, South Korea and North Korea have been at war since 1953, when an armistice agreement stopped the fighting but did not formally end the armed confrontation.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in 2024 that he would no longer seek reconciliation with South Korea, although it remains Seoul’s long-term goal.

An official at South Korea’s Unification Ministry told Yonhap that Kim’s comments on Tuesday were relatively mild by North Korean standards.

The statement did not directly refer to the United States or threaten to use nuclear weapons, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Kim appears to have limited his response to simply pointing out the exercise between South Korea and the United States, taking into account the current security situation,” the official told Yonhap.