North Korea leader's sister says reduced military exercise put Seoul 'in poor plight'
Seoul, Aug 20
Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said Thursday that Washington's recent decision to scale down the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise has placed Seoul "in a poor plight of cancelling 'war games' it liked very much."
Kim Yo-jong made the remarks in a statement as South Korea and the United States scaled down the summertime annual combined exercise after US President Donald Trump ordered the drills to be reduced, Yonhap News Agency reported.
"Trump issued a sudden order to reduce the scale of the drill. This has placed Seoul in a poor plight of cancelling 'war games' it liked very much," Kim said.
Kim also said that President Lee Jae Myung's "double-dealing remarks" show the uneasiness and impatience of South Korea, referring to Lee's remarks that he respects the scaling down of the drills while also pledging for the "independent buildup of military capabilities."
"It will be something like the first 'trouble' to the ROK, unprecedented in the history of US-ROK joint military exercises, in the context that they have never seen the scale of war games reduced to become coreless after its kick-off with no prior discussion," she added, calling South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.
Kim added that the reduced scale of the exercise is "an evident disaster" for South Korean authorities that have been "blinded by their firm belief in the US master."
"The world witnesses that the US security aids are no longer free of charge," Kim said. "The whole territory of the ROK would be insufficient to gain favour with the cruel master."
Earlier in the day, North Korea fired a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected roughly a dozen short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Pyongyang area at around 5 pm, adding that further analysis is under way in cooperation with the United States.
The military has stepped up surveillance and vigilance for possible additional launches while closely sharing related information with the US and Japan as they maintain a full readiness posture, the JCS said.
"Under a staunch South Korea-US combined defence posture, our military is closely monitoring various North Korean activities as we maintain the capability and readiness to overwhelmingly respond to any provocation," it added.
— IANS
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