Kim Yo-jong: "Spring Days Won't Come in March," Provocation Amid North Korea's 'Biden Week' Initiation

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] On the 16th, North Korea condemned the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, issuing strong statements including the termination of the inter-Korean military agreement, dismantling of the inter-Korean liaison office, and warnings to the Joe Biden U.S. administration.

This move is interpreted as an effort to pressure the South Korean government and the United States ahead of the visits of U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to South Korea the following day.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Yo-jong, Vice Director of the Workers' Party of Korea and sister of Kim Jong-un, mentioned the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises in a statement released through Korean Central Broadcasting and the Workers' Party's official newspaper Rodong Sinmun, saying, "No matter what the South Korean authorities do according to their master's orders, the warm spring days of three years ago that they so long for will not easily return."

She further criticized, "The South Korean authorities have chosen not a 'warm March' but a 'March of war' and a 'March of crisis.'"

Kim Yo-jong's critical statement toward the South came about two months after her previous remarks on January 13, shortly after the 8th Party Congress, when she condemned the South Korean military's announcement of 'signs of a North Korean military parade.'

Regarding the reduction in the scale of the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises, she pointed out, "We have always opposed joint military exercises aimed at our compatriots, but we have never discussed the scale or form of the exercises because the nature and character of these invasion war exercises aimed at our compatriots do not change."

She warned, "If they become even more provocative, we foresee extraordinary measures such as decisively terminating the inter-Korean military agreement," adding, "We can no longer avoid putting on the agenda the issue of dismantling the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, an inter-Korean dialogue body that has lost its reason to exist under the current situation."

She also added, "We are considering abolishing related organizations, including the Mount Kumgang International Tourist Bureau."

Kim Yo-jong also issued a warning to the Biden U.S. administration.

She said, "A word of advice to the new U.S. administration across the ocean, which is eager to spread the smell of gunpowder on our land and is suffering from it: If you wish to sleep soundly for the next four years, it would be best not to create sleepless troubles from the start." This is the first official message from the North to the U.S. since the Biden administration took office.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This strong statement from North Korea is notable as it was made just one day before the visits of Secretaries Blinken and Austin.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 17th, Secretaries Blinken and Austin are scheduled to hold talks with Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Defense Minister Suh Wook, followed by a 2+2 meeting the next day, where they are expected to discuss the Korea policy based on U.S. sanctions against North Korea and closely coordinate on the possibility of North Korean provocations.

Meanwhile, a senior official from the Ministry of Unification commented on Kim Yo-jong's statement, saying, "The South Korea-U.S. exercises should not become a trigger for military tension," and emphasized, "Efforts to pursue dialogue and cooperation must not stop under any circumstances."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.