The joint drills with South Korea and Japan were denounced by Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister as ‘reckless muscle-flexing’
Both denounced the ongoing drills and signalled that Pyongyang was prepared to answer with its own show of force.
“Reckless muscle-flexing by the US, Japan and South Korea in the wrong location, in the surrounding areas next to the DPRK, will definitely bring unfavourable consequences,” Kim Yo-jong said on Sunday, using the abbreviation form of the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Meanwhile, Pak Jong-chon, the North’s top-ranking military figure, accused the allies of staging a “nuclear war rehearsal” and warned that “serious counteractions” would follow. Neither official elaborated on what form North Korea’s response might take.
In parallel, South Korea and the US are also holding Iron Mace, a tabletop exercise focused on nuclear attack response planning at Camp Humphreys, the headquarters of US Forces Korea.
