North Korea, through Kim Yo Jong, has strongly condemned the ongoing US-South Korea "Freedom Shield" military exercises, warning they could lead to "unimaginably terrible consequences" and accusing the allies of destroying regional stability. The 10-day drills involve 18,000 personnel and are described by the US and South Korea as defensive measures to enhance alliance capabilities. An official from South Korea's government noted that the North's criticism, while severe, was relatively muted by its standards, as it did not directly name the US or issue nuclear threats.
Main Topics Covered:
1. North Korea's condemnation of US-South Korea joint military exercises.
2. Details and purpose of the "Freedom Shield" drills.
3. The ongoing tensions and state of conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
4. Analysis of the rhetoric used in North Korea's statement.
North Korea denounces ‘muscle-flexing’ US-South Korean military exercises
North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong said the annual ‘Freedom Shield’ exercises could lead to ‘unimaginably terrible consequences’.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has accused the United States and South Korea of “destroying the stability” of East Asia, as the two countries start their annual 10-day joint military exercises on the Korean Peninsula.
“The muscle-flexing of the hostile forces near the areas of our state’s sovereignty and security may cause unimaginably terrible consequences,” Kim Yo Yong said on Tuesday, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
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“The enemies should never try to test our patience, will and capability,” Kim said.
“We will watch to what extent the enemy violates the security of our state and what it is playing at,” she continued.
Kim’s remarks follow the start of the joint Freedom Shield exercises on Monday, which will run for 10 days and involve 18,000 South Korean and US military personnel.
The military manoeuvres are designed to “enhance the combined, joint, all-domain, and interagency operational environment, thereby strengthening the Alliance’s response capabilities,” United States Forces Korea said.
This year’s Freedom Shield will involve 22 field training drills, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, which is fewer than half the number carried out last year.
Kim added on Tuesday that there was no justification to hold the exercises, which have been called a “defensive” action by Washington and Seoul in the past.
“No matter what justification they may establish and how the elements of the drill may be coordinated, the clear confrontational nature of the high-intensity large-scale war drill staged by the most hostile entities in collusion at the doorstep of [North Korea] never changes,” she said.
“The recent global geopolitical crisis and complicated international events prove that all military manoeuvres of the field warfare troops, to be conducted by the enemy states, assume no distinction between defence and attack, training and actual warfare,” she continued, in an apparent reference to the US-Israel war on Iran.
South Korea and North Korea have technically been at war since 1953, when an armistice agreement paused fighting but did not formally end the armed confrontation.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in 2024 that he would no longer pursue reconciliation with South Korea, although it remains Seoul’s long-term goal.
An official at South Korea’s Ministry of Unification told Yonhap that Kim’s remarks on Tuesday were relatively muted by North Korean standards.
The statement did not refer directly to the US or threaten to use nuclear weapons, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Kim appears to have limited her response to merely pinpointing the South Korea-US exercise, taking the current security situation into account,” the official told Yonhap.
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