Ministry of Unification Issues 'Ultra-Strong Response' to North Korea: "Get the Situation Right"

North Korea's 'Kim Yo-jong Statement' a Day After ICBM Launch
Unification Ministry: "Provocation Amid Food Shortage Only Invites Isolation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] Following North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, Kim Yo-jong, the Deputy Director of the Workers' Party, issued a threatening statement. In response, the Ministry of Unification expressed its position, saying it "cannot help but deplore the absurd rhetoric being spread."

The spokesperson office of the Ministry of Unification stated in a message sent to the press on the 19th, "North Korea forgets that the cause and responsibility for the current deterioration of the situation lie in its reckless nuclear and missile development, and instead shifts the blame onto us and the United States."

The spokesperson office emphasized, "If the North Korean regime continues provocations and threats while ignoring the people's livelihood and human rights amid a severe food crisis with many starving to death, it will only deepen its isolation from the international community." They added, "North Korea should now properly recognize the situation and stop provocations and threats," urging, "It must come out on the right path for sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula."

"We Won't Deal with South Koreans"... Kim Yo-jong Builds 'Justification for Provocation'

Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Director of the Workers' Party

Earlier, Kim Yo-jong, sister of Chairman Kim Jong-un and Deputy Director of the Party, stated in a public statement released through the Korean Central News Agency that "We still have no intention of dealing with South Koreans," and "We will closely monitor every hostile action and respond correspondingly to all hostile acts against us with very strong and overwhelming measures."

North Korea has been conducting provocations at one-day intervals after condemning the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises through a Foreign Ministry spokesperson's statement on the 17th. The day before, under the guidance of the Missile General Bureau, it launched the ICBM 'Hwasong-15,' and consecutively issued a statement under Kim Yo-jong's name on the same day. This is interpreted as building justification for provocations by blaming South Korea and the United States for the worsening situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Yo-jong also argued, "The United States should stop the nonsense of deceiving the world by claiming it is not hostile to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and is open to dialogue," and warned, "South Koreans should consider what kind of disaster they might ultimately bring upon themselves if they continue to act 'bravely and recklessly' without knowing when to be offended or not."

"Using South Korea-U.S. Joint Exercises as an Excuse... North Korea Likely to Escalate Strategic Provocations"

North Korea Conducts ICBM 'Hwasong-15' Launch Training
[Image Source=Yonhap News]

Kim Yo-jong's remark that "we will respond correspondingly to all acts" appears to target the upcoming extended deterrence operational exercise (DSC TTX) scheduled for the 22nd (U.S. local time), which assumes a North Korean nuclear attack scenario, and the large-scale South Korea-U.S. joint exercises planned for mid-next month. It is analyzed as an intention to use the annual joint exercises as an excuse to carry out strategic provocations.

Military officials and experts also expect that the level of provocations North Korea will carry out in the future will gradually increase.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, said, "It is clear that the ICBM launch was a retaliatory act against the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises, expressing an intention to continue a strong-to-strong stance against the United States." He predicted, "South Korea and the U.S. are expected to proceed with the joint exercises as originally scheduled, and North Korea will shift the responsibility for the missile launch onto the U.S., causing tensions on the Korean Peninsula to reach a peak by April."

Jung Sung-jang, head of the Unification Strategy Research Office at the Sejong Institute, analyzed, "As North Korea's ICBM technology advances, the United States will face the dilemma of extended deterrence, questioning whether it must risk nuclear war with North Korea to protect South Korea."

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