North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, threatened the United States on Tuesday, 16 March, saying, “If you wish to sleep well for the next four years, it would be better not to create work from the start that will make you lose sleep,” state media reported.
This comes after top Biden administration officials began their visit to Tokyo and Seoul. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Japan on Monday, with the aim of rallying military deals as a defence against China and establishing a united front against the nuclear-armed North.
Yo Jong is a trusted adviser to her brother and was a key voice when inter-Korean tensions escalated last year, culminating in the North blowing up a liaison office on its side of the border.
The statement by Yo Jong was Pyongyang's first explicit reference to the new US president, though she did not mention his name.
Why Was the Threat Extended?
The United States and South Korea had begun joint military exercises last week. A statement from Yo Jong offering, “a word of advice to the new administration of the United States that is struggling to spread the smell of gunpowder on our land,” was carried in Pyongyang’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
Shortly before Biden's January inauguration, leader Kim denounced the US as his country's “foremost principal enemy,” followed by Pyongyang unveiling a new submarine at a military parade.
Seoul and Washington are treaty allies. While the United States is stationing around 28,500 troops in South Korea for defence, computer-simulated joint military exercises began last week.
Such drills are seen as preparations for invasion, and condemning them, Kim Yo Jong said: “The South Korean government yet again chose the 'March of War', the 'March of Crisis' rather than a 'warm March' before all the people.”
“It will not be easy for the warm spring days of three years ago to come back if the South Korean government follows whatever instructions of its master,” she added, threatening to scrap a North-South military agreement if Seoul acts “more provocatively”.
North Korea remains under multiple sanctions for its banned weapons programmes. Neither was any progress was made towards Washington's declared aim of de-nuclearising the country during the Trump-era administration.
North Korea had further isolated itself, imposing a strict lockdown to protect itself against the coronavirus pandemic that first emerged in neighbouring China.
Austin and Blinken will arrive in South Korea on Wednesday, 17 March, before the defence secretary heads visit India.
(With inputs from AFP)
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