North Korean leader's sister warns against joint military exercises

14/9/2025 5:52

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful

sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, warned joint

military exercises of U.S., South Korea and Japan could bring

about "negative consequences" for themselves, state media

reported on Sunday.



South Korea, Japan and the U.S. will conduct annual

defensive drills called the "Freedom Edge" starting on September

15 to upgrade aerial, naval and cyber operational capabilities

against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, South Korea's

military has said.



"This reminds us that the reckless display of power

displayed by the U.S., Japan, and South Korea in the wrong

places, namely around the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,

will undoubtedly bring about negative consequences for

themselves," Kim said via state KCNA news agency, using North

Korea's official name.



South Korea and the United States also plan to stage the

"Iron Mace" tabletop exercises next week on integrating their

conventional and nuclear capabilities against North Korea's

threats, South Korean local media reported.



If "hostile forces" continue to boast about their power

through those joint drills, North Korea will take

countermeasures "more clearly and strongly", North Korea's top

party official Pak Jong Chon said in a separate dispatch via

KCNA.



Pyongyang has traditionally criticized those joint drills as

rehearsals for invasion and in some cases responded with weapons

tests, but Seoul and Washington say they are purely defensive.