PYONGYANG: The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-jong, issued a stern warning on Sunday that South Korea could face severe consequences if it continues to deploy drones over Pyongyang. This statement follows recent accusations from North Korea that South Korea had flown unmanned drones over its capital three times this month, an allegation that has heightened tensions between the two countries.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kim Yo-jong’s warning was delivered through a statement broadcast by the Korean Central News Agency. She expressed strong discontent with South Korea’s actions, which she described as provocations, and indicated that North Korea is prepared to take retaliatory measures that could lead to a “horrible disaster” if such incidents were to occur again. The North Korean response came just a day after it sent balloons filled with trash across the border into South Korea, which Pyongyang claims was a retaliatory act against the alleged South Korean drone flights.
The situation
escalated when North Korea’s foreign ministry outlined specific instances on October 3, and the following Wednesday and Thursday when it claimed to detect South Korean drones over Pyongyang. The ministry warned of a forceful response to any future violations of its airspace. South Korea’s Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun initially denied the military’s involvement in sending drones across the border. However, the ambiguity remained as the Joint Chiefs of Staff later stated they could not confirm the veracity of North Korea’s claims.
Kim Yo-jong criticized the South Korean military’s ambiguous response to the allegations, interpreting it as an indirect admission of guilt. She argued that by neither confirming nor denying the incidents, South Korea’s military had revealed a mindset of implicit acknowledgment of the actions, labeling them as either the “chief criminal or accomplice” in the situation.
In her statement, Kim Yo-jong further cautioned that South Korea should be prepared for severe repercussions for
its “repeated provocations.” She ominously noted that the “attack time” for an offensive against South Korea could occur at any moment, contingent upon further detections of South Korean drones over North Korean airspace.