Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Department Director of the Workers’ Party of Korea and sister to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has criticized the recent trilateral aerial drills conducted by South Korea, the United States, and Japan, underscoring the legitimacy of North Korea’s policy to strengthen its nuclear capabilities.
In a statement released through the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim condemned the joint air exercises held on the 3rd, referring to them as “the most hostile and dangerous aggressive nature of the enemy toward our Republic.”
Kim highlighted the expansion of joint exercises such as “Freedom Edge,” the first multilateral training involving South Korea, the U.S., and Japan this year, and noted the increased frequency of the deployment of U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula.
She argued that “the drastically increased number of war rehearsals posed a serious threat to not only our state but also regional peace and security.”
She further stated that “ever-escalating military threats of hostile forces only prove the validity of our line of bolstering up nuclear forces.”
“The critical security environment facing our state eloquently proves the inevitability of the strategic choice made by us to creditably defend our state’s security and regional peace from the U.S. and its followers’ aggressive and adventuristic military threats.”
The trilateral air exercise involving the U.S. strategic bomber B-1B took place on November 3 over the overlapping airspace of the Korea-Japan Air Defense Identification Zones east of Jeju Island. This was the fourth deployment of U.S. strategic bombers to the Korean Peninsula this year and the second joint air exercise by the three nations in 2024.
The training was conducted as a warning to North Korea following its recent test launch of the new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the “Hwasong-19.”
BY YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]
