‘Terrible consequences’: North Korea hits out over US-South Korea military exercises

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un criticised the United States and South Korea for proceeding with their annual joint military exercises at a perilous moment for global security and warned that any challenge to the North’s safety would bring “terrible consequences”.Kim Yo-jong’s statement Tuesday came a day after the allies started their 11-day Freedom Shield exercise involving thousands of troops, while Washington also wages an escalating war in the Middle East.Without directly referring to the Iran war, Kim said the US-South Korea drills undermine regional stability at a time when the global security structure is “collapsing rapidly and wars break out in different parts of the world due to the reckless acts of outrageous international rogues”.Freedom Shield is one of two annual command-post exercises conducted by the US and South Korean militaries. The largely computer-simulated drills are designed to test the allies’ joint operational capabilities while incorporating evolving war scenarios and security challenges. As usual, Freedom Shield will be accompanied by a field training programme, called Warrior Shield.A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter lands at US Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Photo: Yonhap via EPAMentioning the country’s expanding nuclear programme, Kim Yo-jong said North Korea will continue to bolster its “destructive power” against what it sees as external threats and “constantly and repeatedly convince the enemies of our war deterrence and its fatality”.