Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean dictator Kim Joung Un, has warned South Korea of “devastating consequences” over dropping anti-regime leaflets in her country.
At least 29 large balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets from South Korea were found around North Korea, prompting a blockade in the areas and causing inconvenience to residents, Kim said.
Tension flared last month after North Korea sent thousands of balloons containing trash to the South in protest against a campaign by North Korean defectors and activists in the South who have for years flown aid parcels and leaflets criticising the Kim regime across the heavily fortified border.
Kim said Pyongyang might respond differently if “petty and dirty” behaviour by what she called “human scum” continues, without elaborating.
“The situation seemed to be becoming unacceptable. Again I give you a stern warning,” she said in a statement carried by KCNA. “You will have to face devastating and horrible consequences.”
Kim Yo Jong, a powerful entity in North Korea, accused South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of creating tensions on the Korean peninsula earlier this month. Kim Yo Jong, was quoted by North Korean agencies as saying that Yool was generating tensions to divert attention from domestic issues plaguing his country. This comes at a time when the South Korean President says he will warn North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) leaders of the threat emanating from Pyongyang.
Tensions between the two Koreas are running high after Pyongyang signed a mutual defence pact with Russia and sent trash-filled balloons over to South Korea in response to South Korean activists’ balloon launches with anti-North Korea leaflets.
Last month, South Korea said it would suspend a military agreement signed with North Korea in 2018 aimed at easing tensions, in protest against North Korea’s trash balloon launches. Kim had then said that in case North Korea judges its own sovereignty as violated, its armed forces will immediately carry out their duty according to the constitution.
(With inputs from Reuters)
