The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is rattling nerves in South Korea — by threatening military action and accusing activists of sending anti-Pyongyang pamphlets across the border.
Kim Yo Jong on Saturday described South Korea as “the enemy” and warned the country would soon see the collapse of a “useless” inter-Korean liaison office at the border.
She said North Korea’s military would determine how to retaliate for the activists’ propaganda leaflet campaign targeting North Koreans.
“By exercising my power authorized by the supreme leader, our party and the state, I gave an instruction to the arms of the department in charge of the affairs with enemy to decisively carry out the next action,” she said in a statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
“If I drop a hint of our next plan the (South Korean) authorities are anxious about, the right to taking the next action against the enemy will be entrusted to the General Staff of our army,” she said.
“Our army, too, will determine something for cooling down our people’s resentment and surely carry out it, I believe.”
Kim, the first vice department director of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, has gained significant power over the years and was even rumored to be Kim Jong Un’s successor back in April when speculation swirled over the state of the ruler’s health.
The relationship between North and South Koreas has deteriorated in recent months, with North Korean officials expressing frustration over stalled nuclear talks with the Trump administration — discussions supported by South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
With Post wires