Flashpoints | Security | East Asia

Kim Yo Jong Condemns South Korea-US Joint Military Exercises

The powerful sister of North Korean leader labeled the “Freedom Shield” exercises as war rehearsal while warning of overwhelming deterrent response.

In this Aug. 14, 2022 file photo released by North Korean state media, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, delivers a speech in Pyongyang, North Korea.

On March 10, North Korea issued a stern warning against the ongoing joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, labeling the exercises a provocative and aggressive war rehearsal and threatening an overwhelming military response.

The North’s state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) carried the statement from Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the main voice on inter-Korean relations, condemning the “Freedom Shield” exercises, which began on March 9.

“It is not a ‘military game’ but provocative and aggressive war rehearsal of those simulating and planning the confrontation with the DPRK,” Kim said in her statement. (DPRK is the acronym of North Korea’s official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.) 

The Freedom Shield exercises, involving more than 18,000 troops, are an annual fixture of the security alliance between the United States and South Korea, designed to enhance their combined defense posture against North Korean threats. While the allies have consistently maintained that these exercises are defensive and intended to ensure regional stability, Pyongyang has long viewed them as a dress rehearsal for an invasion. This year, the exercises have drawn particular ire from the North for incorporating advanced technology, including artificial intelligence and information warfare – which Kim cited as proof of an increasingly aggressive intent.

“Given that the danger has escalated in recent years as a result of the drastic increase of command and actual field mobilization exercises to apply and get familiar with new modern war manuals and methods appropriate to the actual conditions of the Korean peninsula, accompanied by nuclear elements, such training is being further supplemented by practical and provocative military elements including information warfare and AI technology this year, too,” Kim said.

Historically, the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises have been a major flashpoint and a significant barometer of the diplomatic climate on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea’s sensitivity to the exercises is so deep-seated that their suspension was a primary condition for the historic summit diplomacy in 2018 and 2019. At that time, during a brief period of rapprochement, major joint field........

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