North Korea Would ‘Annihilate’ South If Provoked, Warns Kim Jong-un’s Sister

THE GUARDIAN: Warning points to a rise in tensions on the peninsula after the North conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in five years

Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, seen here in 2018 speaking to former South Korean president Moon Jae-in. Kim berated Seoul for the second time in days. Photograph: Bae Jae-man/AP
The influential sister of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has said the country’s nuclear forces would “annihilate” the South Korean military if it launched a pre-emptive strike against the regime.

Kim Yo-jong, who holds several senior positions in the government and ruling party, said the North had no intention of starting a second Korean war, but would respond if provoked and leave the South’s military in a state of “total destruction and ruin”.

Her comments after South Korea’s defence minister, Suh Wook, publicly discussed Seoul’s ability to “accurately and quickly hit any target in North Korea” with a range of weapons, as international unease grows over the North’s recent resumption of long-range missile tests. In another statement directed toward Suh on Sunday, she called him a “scum-like guy”. » | Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies | Tuesday, April 5, 2022