North Korea Warns Seoul Of Serious Threat Over Missile Remark

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s significant sister has called South Korean Defense Minister a “scum” because he spoke of pre-emptive strikes in the North, warning on Sunday that the South could face serious threat. “
Kim Yo Jong’s statement came amid heightened tensions between Korean rivals over a wave of weapons tests in the north this year, including the first intercontinental ballistic missile launch in more than four years.  Some experts say her statement could signal that North Korea will soon conduct more significant weapons tests and take a tough stance against South Korea.
The ICBM test that broke North Korea’s four-year moratorium on major arms tests was a huge embarrassment for liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who pushed hard for greater reconciliation and a peaceful solution. North Korea nuclear power plant.  crisis.
During a visit to the country’s strategic missile command on Friday, South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook said South Korea has the capability and readiness to launch precision strikes on North Korea if it detects that the North intends to launch missiles at North Korea. Korea.  Seoul has long maintained such a precautionary military strategy to deal with North Korea’s growing missile and nuclear threats, but it was still very unusual for a senior Seoul-led Seoul official to discuss it publicly.
On Sunday, Kim’s sister, Kim Yoo-yong, delivered a gruesome rhetoric to Suh and threats against Seoul.
“It’s irrational and scum dare to report a ‘pre-emptive strike’ on a nuclear-armed state,” Kim Yoo-yong said in a statement broadcast by state media.  “South Korea could face a serious threat due to the reckless statements of its Secretary of Defense.”
“South Korea must be disciplined if it is to prevent disaster,” he said.
Kim Yoo-yong, a senior official in the ruling Labor Party of the North, is in charge of relations with Seoul and Washington.  South Korea’s spy agency says it is the No. 2 North Korean official behind her brother.
Pak Yong Chun, secretary of the Labor Party Central Committee, warned that “any slight misjudgment and misstatement that upsets the other side in the current situation” could lead to “a dangerous conflict and a full-blown war.”
Pack said North Korea “will relentlessly direct military force to destroy key targets in Seoul and the South Korean military” if South Korea launches a pre-emptive strike on North Korea.
Relations between the Koreans stalled for a while in 2018 after North Korea suddenly approached South Korea and the United States and expressed its willingness to put its nuclear program on the negotiating table.  At the time, Kim Yo Jong was visiting South Korea to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and conveying her brother Moon’s invitation to visit the North.  Kim Jong Un and Moon finally met three times in 2018.
However, North Korea turned colder on the Moon and severed ties with South Korea after the collapse of its wider diplomacy with the United States in 2019 over disagreements over US economic sanctions on the North.
“Kim Yo Jong’s remarks foretell another major military test,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.  “Similar to the way Moscow and Beijing are trying to make it clear to the world that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is in some way NATO’s fault, Pyongyang will blame its nuclear and missile advances on the US-South Korea alliance.” .
Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the Sejong Institute in South Korea said North Korea’s successive statements showed it would take tough steps toward South Korea.  He said Pyongyang was sensitive to Seoul’s ability to prevent a pre-emptive strike because it lacked military means and the ability to detect South Korean strikes in advance.
However, Cheong added that Seoul’s public comments about preemptive strikes would only increase the voices of hardline officials in Pyongyang and increase tensions between the Koreans.
Moon’s five-year term ends in May, when he will be replaced by conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, who has openly discussed a pre-emptive strike strategy in North Korea during his campaign.  His liberal opponents criticized him for unnecessarily provoking North Korea, but Yoon said he would follow a principled approach to Pyongyang.
The United States has urged North Korea to return to the talks unconditionally, but the North has rejected such a proposal, saying the United States must first stop its hostility to it.  Kim Jong Un has repeatedly promised to expand his nuclear arsenal as the diplomatic stalemate with Washington continues.
Some experts say recent missile tests on the North have been aimed at refining its weapons technology, boosting its leverage in future negotiations with the United States and securing stronger domestic credibility.  They say North Korea could soon launch another ICBM launch, a satellite-launched rocket launch or a nuclear test in the coming weeks.

title: “North Korea Warns Seoul Of Serious Threat Over Missile Remark " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-16” author: “Maria Roque”

Kim Yo Jong’s statement came amid heightened tensions between Korean rivals over a wave of weapons tests in the north this year, including the first intercontinental ballistic missile launch in more than four years.  Some experts say her statement could signal that North Korea will soon conduct more significant weapons tests and take a tough stance against South Korea.
The ICBM test that broke North Korea’s four-year moratorium on major arms tests was a huge embarrassment for liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who pushed hard for greater reconciliation and a peaceful solution. North Korea’s nuclear program.  crisis.
During a visit to the country’s strategic missile command on Friday, South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook said South Korea has the capability and readiness to launch precision strikes on North Korea if it detects that the North intends to launch missiles at North Korea. Korea.  Seoul has long maintained such a precautionary military strategy to deal with North Korea’s growing missile and nuclear threats, but it was still very unusual for a senior Seoul-led Seoul official to discuss it publicly.
On Sunday, Kim’s sister, Kim Yoo-yong, delivered a gruesome rhetoric to Suh and threats against Seoul.
“The irrational and scum dare to report a ‘pre-emptive strike’ on a nuclear-armed state,” Kim Yoo-yong said in a statement broadcast by state media.  “South Korea could face a serious threat due to the reckless statements of its Secretary of Defense.”
“South Korea must be disciplined if it is to prevent disaster,” he said.
Kim Yoo-yong, a senior official in the ruling Labor Party of the North, is in charge of relations with Seoul and Washington.  South Korea’s spy agency says it is the No. 2 North Korean official behind her brother.
Pak Yong Chun, secretary of the Labor Party Central Committee, warned that “any slight miscalculation and misstatement that disturbs the other party in the current situation” could lead to “a dangerous conflict and a full-blown war.”
Pack said North Korea “will relentlessly direct military force to destroy key targets in Seoul and the South Korean military” if South Korea launches a pre-emptive strike on North Korea.
Relations between the Koreans stalled for a while in 2018 after North Korea suddenly approached South Korea and the United States and expressed its willingness to put its nuclear program on the negotiating table.  At the time, Kim Yo Jong was visiting South Korea to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and conveying her brother Moon’s invitation to visit the North.  Kim Jong Un and Moon finally met three times in 2018.
However, North Korea turned colder on the Moon and severed ties with South Korea after the collapse of its wider diplomacy with the United States in 2019 over disagreements over US economic sanctions under the North.
“Kim Yo Jong’s remarks foreshadow another major military test,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.  “Similar to the way Moscow and Beijing are trying to make it clear to the world that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is in some way a NATO mistake, Pyongyang will blame its nuclear and missile advances on the US-South Korea alliance.” .
Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the Sejong Institute in South Korea said North Korea’s successive statements showed it would take tough steps toward South Korea.  He said Pyongyang was sensitive to Seoul’s ability to prevent a pre-emptive strike because it lacked military means and the ability to detect South Korean strikes in advance.
However, Cheong added that Seoul’s public comments about preemptive strikes would only increase the voices of hardline officials in Pyongyang and increase tensions between the Koreans.
Moon’s five-year term ends in May, when he will be replaced by conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, who has openly discussed a pre-emptive strike strategy in North Korea during his campaign.  His liberal opponents criticized him for unnecessarily provoking North Korea, but Yoon said he would follow a principled approach to Pyongyang.
The United States has urged North Korea to return to the talks unconditionally, but the North has rejected such a proposal, saying the United States must first end its hostility to it.  Kim Jong Un has repeatedly promised to expand his nuclear arsenal as the diplomatic stalemate with Washington continues.
Some experts say recent missile tests on the North have been aimed at refining its weapons technology, boosting its leverage in future negotiations with the United States and securing stronger domestic credibility.  They say North Korea could soon launch another ICBM launch, a satellite-launched rocket launch or a nuclear test in the coming weeks.