The recent alliance between the USA and South Korea did not go unnoticed in North Korea. The influential sister of ruler Kim threatened an escalation – and called US President Biden senile.
It is the first official reaction from North Korea to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to the White House: Kim Yo Jong – the sister of ruler Kim Jong Un – spoke up. According to North Korean state media, she announced that her country must demonstrate more military might and improve its “nuclear deterrent.”
“The more the enemy insists on conducting nuclear war drills and the more nuclear weapons they deploy near the Korean peninsula, the more we will exercise our right to self-defense,” she added.
Influential Personality
She accused South Korea and the United States of “the most hostile and aggressive will to act” that endangers peace and security even more. US President Joe Biden described her as senile and “irresponsibly brave”. North Korea will not simply dismiss the 80-year-old’s words as “nonsensical remarks by a person in their prime.”
Kim Yo Jong is considered influential. She is director of North Korea’s Ministry of Propaganda and Agitation and is one of the country’s leading figures.
New agreements between USA and South Korea
At their meeting in Washington on Wednesday, Biden and Yoon issued sharp warnings to North Korea and agreed to strengthen cooperation on the issue of nuclear weapons. Biden said a North Korean nuclear attack on the US or its allies would spell the “end” of the “regime” in Pyongyang. Yoon said a response to a North Korean nuclear attack would include US nuclear weapons.
As a deterrent, nuclear-armed American submarines are scheduled to dock regularly in South Korea for the first time in decades. In addition, the coordination in military training will be strengthened, it said.
Tough question of nuclear armament
In principle, the issue of nuclear weapons between long-standing allies, the USA and South Korea, is a delicate one. North Korea’s recent advances in its nuclear program have raised questions about whether the US government would be willing to use nuclear weapons to defend South Korea under the existing principle of “extended deterrence.”
The government in Pyongyang is now allegedly developing carrier rockets that could also reach US cities. According to a survey in March, 64 percent of South Koreans support the development of their own nuclear weapons. The Biden government rejects this.