North Korea slams South Korea over joint military exercises

Kim Yo Jong at Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome before Putin-Kim meeting, 13 September, 2023
Reuters

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused Seoul and its president of having a “dual personality,” criticising their commitment to peace while carrying out joint exercises with the United States, according to state media KCNA on Wednesday.

The drills, launched this week, include testing upgraded responses to North Korea’s growing nuclear threats.

Pyongyang routinely denounces such exercises as invasion rehearsals, although South Korea and Washington maintain they are purely defensive.

"Lee Jae Myung is not that man to change this flow of history" of confrontational ambition, Kim said, adding "they must be aware that the inter-Korean relationship they want will never return," according to KCNA.

The remarks follow similar statements from Kim Jong Un, who condemned the U.S.-South Korea drills as provocations and stressed the need to strengthen North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

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