Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has captured the attention of the world with her enigmatic persona and prominent role within the North Korean regime. While often portrayed as a powerful figure in her own right, her life and background remain shrouded in mystery. This essay delves into the life and background of Kim Yo Jong, exploring her rise to prominence, her family dynamics, and her influence on North Korean politics.
Early Life and Family Background Born on September 26, 1987, Kim Yo Jong is the youngest daughter of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his wife, Ko Yong Hui. She is the full sister of current leader Kim Jong Un and the granddaughter of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung. Growing up in the privileged environment of the ruling Kim family, Kim Yo Jong received a comprehensive education, likely tailored to prepare her for a future role within the regime. Kim Yo Jong's family background is deeply intertwined with the power dynamics of North Korea. Her father, Kim Jong Il, ruled the country with an iron fist for seventeen years until his death in 2011, leaving his young and relatively inexperienced son, Kim Jong Un, to assume leadership. Kim Yo Jong's close relationship with her brother, Kim Jong Un, has been speculated to play a significant role in her rise to prominence within the North Korean hierarchy. Rise to Prominence Kim Yo Jong's ascent to prominence began in 2014 when she was appointed as a senior official in the Workers' Party of Korea, the ruling political party of North Korea. Over the years, she steadily climbed the ranks, assuming various roles within the regime's propaganda and guidance departments. Her public appearances alongside her brother, Kim Jong Un, during official events and summits have further solidified her image as a trusted confidante and advisor to the North Korean leader. In recent years, Kim Yo Jong has emerged as one of the most visible and influential figures in North Korean politics. Her portfolio includes overseeing key government agencies and spearheading diplomatic initiatives, particularly in relations with South Korea and the United States. Notably, she played a prominent role in the 2018 Winter Olympics held in South Korea, leading the North Korean delegation and capturing global media attention. Influence and Political Dynamics Despite her relative youth and lack of formal titles, Kim Yo Jong's influence within the North Korean regime cannot be underestimated. As a member of the ruling Kim family, she holds significant sway over decision-making processes and enjoys privileged access to her brother, Kim Jong Un. Her proximity to power, combined with her astute political acumen, has positioned her as a formidable figure within the secretive and hierarchical structures of North Korean politics. Kim Yo Jong's influence extends beyond her familial ties. She is regarded as a key figure in shaping North Korea's propaganda machine, employing sophisticated media strategies to bolster the regime's image both domestically and internationally. Additionally, her involvement in diplomatic endeavours underscores her role as a trusted envoy and interlocutor in North Korea's interactions with the outside world. Challenges and Speculations Despite her rise to prominence, Kim Yo Jong's role within the North Korean regime is not without challenges and speculations. The authoritarian nature of the regime, coupled with the pervasive culture of secrecy, makes it difficult to discern the true extent of her power and influence. Moreover, questions regarding her health and well-being have periodically surfaced, leading to conjectures about potential power struggles and succession issues within the ruling elite. Furthermore, Kim Yo Jong's image as a progressive and moderate figure has been met with scepticism by analysts who view her as a product of the same repressive regime that her family has upheld for decades. Her involvement in orchestrating propaganda campaigns and enforcing strict social controls underscores the complexities of her persona and the inherent contradictions within North Korean politics. In conclusion, Kim Yo Jong's life and background offer a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of North Korea's ruling elite. As the younger sister of Kim Jong Un and a member of the powerful Kim family, she occupies a unique position of influence within the regime. Her rise to prominence, coupled with her enigmatic persona and strategic manoeuvring, has made her a figure of intrigue on the global stage. However, unravelling the complexities of her role and motivations remains a daunting task amidst the opaque and tightly controlled political landscape of North Korea.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un joined his troops in a training exercise involving a newly developed battle tank on Wednesday, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) has reported. The military showcase described as a “training match” was designed to test the combat capabilities of tank crews and make them familiar with combat action on different tactical missions. The exercises involved a new type of main battle tank that Kim called “the world’s most powerful,” KCNA said. The North Korean leader, along with Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam and other senior officials, observed as tank units maneuvered through simulated combat conditions. During the training exercise, the tanks demonstrated precision and fired rounds at targets. “Swiftly weaving their way through [the] worst combat circumstances, heavy tanks hit targets at once with powerful strikes and broke through strong defence lines with high manoeuvrability,” the report claimed. Kim expressed “great satisfaction” that the battle tank had successfully demonstrated its striking power in its first performance and called for bigger efforts to prepare for war, according to KCNA. During the drills, Kim mounted one of the tanks and was reported to have driven it himself, “adding to the high militant spirit of the tankmen of our army,” KCNA said. In a photograph published by KCNA, the North Korean leader could be seen with his head peeking out of a tank. The exercise included units stationed close to the border, within striking distance of “the enemy’s capital,” KCNA said, referring to Seoul. The training drills coincided with annual military drills involving the US and South Korea off the Korean Peninsula, which are due to end on Thursday. Kim has called these joint exercises a “rehearsal” for an invasion of North Korea and a provocation of war. The 11-day exercises, which this year involve twice the number of troops compared to last year, are reportedly focused on deterring North Korea’s nuclear threats. The drills involve live-firing, bombing, air assault, and missile interception, according to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun. Last week, North Korea’s Defence Ministry strongly condemned the joint US-South Korea wargames, describing them as “reckless.”
In a statement released last week by ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, Pyongyang described the drills as a “further escalation of military threats” and as “an invasion attempt” against a sovereign nation. Meanwhile, Seoul has portrayed the exercises as purely defensive.
After that effort failed, Pyongyang has now effectively “given up.” It believes it has no options left, and has continued developing its nuclear program and increasingly hardening its position, emboldened by the geopolitical context in respect to Russia and China. It might be noted early on that this assessment does not give “hard” evidence of North Korea pursuing such a path, and relies only on changes in Pyongyang’s rhetoric to argue that the DPRK’s claims are not “bluster” but a true reflection of its strategic position. Many things have changed since 2019 that should be taken into consideration: the Biden administration has no interest in negotiating with North Korea, a hostile Presidency has came to power in Seoul under Yoon Suk-yeol, who is pro-Japan and has abandoned the reconciliatory approach of Moon Jae-in, while the US’ confrontation against both Russia and China has given the DPRK new options to try and subvert the isolation it experienced during the era of American unipolarity.
Because of this, the US has completely lost its ability to hold North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs to account, with new sanctions now being blocked at the UN by Moscow and Beijing, and existing ones not enforced. North Korea is increasingly capable of hitting the American homeland with ICBMs. This is also making unilateral, pre-emptive military action by the US against the DPRK an increasingly unrealistic prospect. But why would this enable Kim Jong-un to pursue a war of choice against South Korea and, should he start one, would he truly have a chance of winning it? North Korea’s entire diplomatic strategy from the 1950s onwards has always been to exert maximum leverage for itself as a small country, by creating crisis. This is the Juche ideology’s ultimate focus on independence and sovereignty at all costs, even to its own population. To this end, the DPRK has always been provocative, whether it be killing US soldiers with axes, capturing the US spy ship USS Pueblo, shelling South Korean islands indiscriminately or even sinking a South Korean warship during an exercise. In doing so it aims to force the hands of not only its enemies but also of those who are friendly to it. Recognizing its critical strategic position, Pyongyang has absolutely no problem dragging Moscow and Beijing into a crisis whether they like it or not, and was happy to cause significant trouble during the Sino-Soviet split. Therefore, in an era when China and Russia are both in a state of tensions –even confrontation– with the US, North Korea ultimately calculates opportunity for itself and extended leverage. Kim Jong-un will recognize that neither state in such a geopolitical situation could tolerate the fall of his regime and the reunification of the Korean peninsula on US-centric terms, which, for China, places an American military presence right next to its own border. Indeed, even though Kim Il-sung started the Korean war in 1950 and subsequently faced defeat from the US and its allies, China still saved him – and back then it was much weaker than it is now. So, would Kim Jong-un fancy his chances in unleashing a full-scale war again on the Korean peninsula on the premise China would be forced to intervene? That isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. Does Kim want the US and China to normalize and improve ties? Of course not, because it means they will cooperate against him to force him to denuclearize. As for the benefits of such a reconciliation for the global economy – why would Kim care about that when his country is impoverished and isolated from said global economy anyway? So where does this leave the DPRK? It leaves Kim Jong-un with a window of time to achieve a series of geopolitical objectives and goals, in a context which is favorable to him, and therein raises the prospect of a serious escalation of tensions in some way. We’ve already seen how similar considerations led to a full-scale war, or two now, in the Middle East. We can’t determine whether they will lead to the outbreak of a conflict on the Korean peninsula, but it would be foolish to rule out the possibility, given the world we live in today. Multipolarity has arrived and it heralds the collapse of the US-centric, unipolar order which imposed stability by force as a one-way street. Many obviously assume the DPRK’s Soviet-era military could be destroyed by overwhelming US and allied power in the same way Saddam Hussein’s was in 1991 and 2003, but that was a different world. Here, you have a nuclear capable DPRK that has overseas backers who, while never wanting such a conflict, can’t afford to see the state fail. North Korea has made attempts at peace but met with America’s absolute unwillingness to compromise – therefore, what options does Kim have left to deal with South Korea? American tech companies have for years employed thousands of North Koreans who worked remotely to raise money for leader Kim Jong-un’s weapons program, according to the FBI.
Speaking at a press conference in St. Louis, Missouri, FBI special agent Jay Greenberg explained that Pyongyang supplies these workers with false documents allowing them to travel to countries including China and Russia. Once there, they apply for remote work with American companies, using VPN software to convince their employers that they are based in the US or third countries, and often hiring middlemen in other countries to sign contracts with employers. “This scheme is so prevalent that companies must be vigilant to verify whom they’re hiring,” Greenberg said. “At a minimum, the FBI recommends that employers take additional proactive steps with remote IT workers to make it harder for bad actors to hide their identities.” Greenberg did not reveal the names of any companies that hired these remote workers, but said that any firm hiring freelance IT staff “more than likely” had someone involved in the scam on its payroll. The scheme has been operational since at least 2019, the US State Department, Justice Department, and FBI warned in a report issued last year. In a separate statement on Wednesday, the Justice Department announced the seizure of $1.5 million and 17 domain names as part of an investigation into the scheme. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un plans to travel to Russia and meet with President Vladimir Putin this month, the New York Times and Associated Press reported on Monday, citing US and “allied” officials.
According to the NYT, Kim intends to travel to the city of Vladivostok, on Russia’s Pacific Coast, “probably by armored train,” where both leaders would attend the annual Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), scheduled for September 10-13, adding that Kim plans to visit a Russian naval base. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have commented on the matter. Kim, who rarely leaves the country and mostly travels by train, last met with Putin in Vladivostok in 2019. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu made a surprise visit to Pyongyang in July, where he and Kim attended a military parade, marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War. Shoigu later said that Moscow was open to holding joint drills with North Korea. Shoigu also delivered “a personal message” from Putin to Kim, according to the Kremlin. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un plans to travel to Russia and meet with President Vladimir Putin this month, the New York Times and Associated Press reported on Monday, citing US and “allied” officials. According to the NYT, Kim intends to travel to the city of Vladivostok, on Russia’s Pacific Coast, “probably by armored train,” where both leaders would attend the annual Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), scheduled for September 10-13, adding that Kim plans to visit a Russian naval base. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have commented on the matter. Kim, who rarely leaves the country and mostly travels by train, last met with Putin in Vladivostok in 2019. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu made a surprise visit to Pyongyang in July, where he and Kim attended a military parade, marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War. Shoigu later said that Moscow was open to holding joint drills with North Korea. Shoigu also delivered “a personal message” from Putin to Kim, according to the Kremlin. North and South Korea have exchanged warning shots off their western coast, accusing each other of breaching their maritime border amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang’s weapons tests. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it broadcast warnings and fired warning shots to repel a North Korean merchant vessel that crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea boundary, at approximately 3:40am local time on Monday (18:40 GMT Sunday). North Korea’s military said it fired 10 rounds of artillery warning shots towards its territorial waters, where “naval enemy movement was detected”. It accused a South Korean naval ship of intruding into North Korean waters on the pretext of cracking down on an unidentified ship.
“We ordered initial countermeasures to strongly expel the enemy warship by firing 10 shells of multiple rocket launchers near the waters where the enemy movement occurred,” the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. JCS said the North Korean artillery firings breached a 2018 inter-Korean accord on reducing military animosities and undermines stability on the Korean Peninsula. It said the North Korean shells did not land in South Korean waters but that it is boosting its military readiness. There were no reports of clashes, but the poorly marked sea boundary off the Korean Peninsula’s west coast is a source of long-running animosities between the two countries. It is the scene of several bloody inter-Korean naval skirmishes and violence in recent years, including North Korea’s shelling of a South Korean island and its alleged torpedoing of a South Korean navy ship that killed 50 people in 2010. Linda Kim SEOUL, September 1 -- A senior North Korean diplomat said Saturday the expectation that dialogue with the United States will resume is "gradually disappearing" after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the country's behavior as "rogue." "Pompeo has gone so far in his language and it made the opening of the expected DPRK-U.S. working-level negotiations more difficult," First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, using the acronym for North Korea's official name. "We are being pushed to re-examine all the measures we have taken so far," Choe said. Pompeo said in a speech to a veterans organization Tuesday that Pyongyang's "rogue behavior could not be ignored." North Korea, meanwhile, has notified the United Nations that the nation's ambassador-level official will deliver a speech at the upcoming U.N. General Assembly, a source close to the matter said, indicating Pyongyang may cancel Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho's participation. Ri's potential absence from the U.N. gathering, scheduled to be held in New York in late September, would deprive Pompeo of a chance to make contact with his North Korean counterpart. At their June 30 meeting at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed that Washington and Pyongyang would resume stalled denuclearization talks within weeks, but they have yet to take place. Instead, North Korea has repeatedly launched new weapons in recent months. Last Saturday, it fired two projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, in Pyongyang's seventh round of such launches since July 25. Linda Kim SEOUL, August 24 -- North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Saturday morning, the Japanese government said, with the launch coming a day after Seoul informed Tokyo of its decision to scrap a bilateral military intelligence-sharing pact. South Korea's military said North Korea fired what were believed to be short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its eastern coast from Sondok in South Hamgyong Province in Pyongyang's seventh round of such launches since July 25. The missiles, fired at 6:45 a.m. and 7:02 a.m., flew about 380 kilometers at a top speed of Mach 6.5 and reached a maximum altitude of about 97 km, Yonhap News Agency quoted the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying. The missiles were unlikely to have landed in Japan's territory or exclusive economic zone, according to the Japanese government. The country's Defense Ministry said the two missiles flew some 350 km and 400 km, respectively. Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya criticized the launches as "a clear violation" of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban Pyongyang from testing such missiles. Tokyo has already lodged a stern protest against North Korea over the missile firings, Japan's parliamentary vice foreign minister Kiyoto Tsuji told ruling party lawmakers Saturday. However, U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed the latest launches, saying Washington and Pyongyang have a really good relationship and that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been "pretty straight with me." Linda Kim SEOUL, August 16 -- North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into the Sea of Japan early Friday, South Korea's military said, in its sixth round of such launches in just over three weeks. The projectiles were launched around 8:01 a.m. and 8:16 a.m. from Tongcheon County in Gangwon Province, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. They both flew about 230 kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of about 30 kilometers and flying at a top speed of Mach 6.1, the JCS said in a statement, adding that South Korean and U.S. authorities are analyzing the specification of the projectiles. It was the sixth launch of projectiles by the country since July 25, with the previous one occurring on Saturday when it fired what were believed to be short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan. South Korea's National Security Director Chung Eui Yong held an emergency meeting with his council members, where they urged North Korea to stop such moves as they could escalate military tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The latest launches are likely another warning against a South Korea-U.S. joint military drill that started last week and runs through late this month. The Japanese government said that it has not confirmed any projectiles flying into Japan's exclusive economic zone and that the projectiles posed no immediate security threat. "We will do all we can to ensure the safety of the people by working closely with the United States among others," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters after North Korea's latest launches. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said, "The advancement of missile-related technology by North Korea is a very serious issue for the entire region and the international community. We will take all possible measures toward vigilance and surveillance." North Korea did not immediately comment on the latest launches. However, earlier in the day, a North Korean state organ issued a statement harshly criticizing South Korean President Moon Jae In's appeal for inter-Korean cooperation and dialogue in a speech the previous day. A spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, a body that manages Inter-Korean relations, said in the statement Pyongyang has "nothing to talk any more with the south Korean authorities," according to the Korean Central News Agency. "Even at this moment, there go on in south Korea joint military exercises against the DPRK. Does he have any face to talk about dialogue atmosphere, peaceful economy and peace-keeping mechanism," the statement said, reiterating the leadership's criticism of the exercises. DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Linda Kim SEOUL, August 10 -- North Korea has fired two unidentified projectiles into the sea off eastern coast on Saturday, Yonhap news agency reported citing South Korea's military. South Korea's defense ministry said it is closely following the developments. No further details are available at this point. On August 6, North Korea launched new guided missiles under the supervision of leader Kim Jong-un. The two missiles flew around 450 km and struck targets in the Sea of Japan. After test launches, Kim Jong-un said that this was "a warning over joint military drills" held by South Korea and the United States. On August 5, the United States and South Korea started joint military drills. According to preliminary reports, the military exercise will last until August 20. "This is a serious issue for the international community," Japanese Senior Vice Defense Minister Kenji Harada told reporters after the launches. North Korea's missile launch would constitute a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the country from using ballistic technology. South Korean military officials and the defense minister held an emergency meeting after the latest launches and took them to be another warning against a South Korea-U.S. joint military drill that started from Monday and runs through late this month. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that its launches a day earlier were a "warning" to the United States and South Korea over their ongoing joint military exercises. U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he received a "beautiful" letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in which he said he does not like conducting the short-range ballistic missile tests North Korea has been doing in recent weeks but justified the move as a response to the U.S.-South Korea drills. The U.S. president said on Aug. 1 he was not worried about the missiles being tested by the North, calling them "very standard," short-range devices. "Short-range missiles, we never made an agreement on that. I have no problem. We'll see what happens," Trump told reporters after North Korea carried out a series of missile launches. South Korean and U.S authorities are currently working on identifying the exact type of the projectiles, said the JCS, while warning that additional launches are highly likely as North Korea is now conducting summer military drills. The Japanese government said Saturday that it has not confirmed any ballistic missiles flying into Japan's exclusive economic zone and that the projectiles posed no immediate security threat. Even so, "we will strengthen our air and missile defense capabilities," Harada said. Lora Smith WASHINGTON, August 9 -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he has received a "beautiful" letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and mentioned the possibility of another meeting with Kim. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he received the three-page letter Thursday. "I think we'll have another meeting," Trump said, without referring to when such a meeting could take place. In a June 30 meeting at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom, Trump and Kim agreed to restart working-level denuclearization negotiations within weeks. But such talks have yet to take place. Instead, Pyongyang has conducted a series of short-range ballistic missile tests. On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed hope that the two sides will resume stalled denuclearization talks "in the coming weeks." Linda Kim WASHINGTON, August 7 -- North Korea has raised up to $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programs through cyberattacks on cryptocurrency operators and overseas banks, a report compiled by a panel of the U.N. sanctions committee on the country showed Monday. "Democratic People's Republic of Korea cyber actors, many operating under the direction of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, raised money for its WMD programs with total proceeds to date estimated at up to 2 billion U.S. dollars," the panel of independent experts said in the report, according to a portion obtained by Kyodo News. "In particular, large scale attacks against cryptocurrency exchanges allowed the DPRK to generate income in ways that are hard to trace and subject to less government oversight and regulation than the traditional banking sector," the report said. The DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name. According to the report, the panel looked into at least 35 cases of cyberattacks in 17 countries including Chile, India, Malaysia, South Africa and South Korea. The investigation showed "a marked increase in the scope and sophistication of cyber activities including attacks in violation of the financial sanctions," it added. The findings underscore that cash-strapped North Korea has resorted to cyberattacks as a means to acquire foreign currency amid continued international sanctions. Additionally, the panel said in the report that North Korea's Munitions Industry Department -- a designated entity involved in supervising the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs -- has been using its subordinate corporations to place IT workers abroad to earn foreign currency. Despite international sanctions, North Korea "enhanced its overall ballistic missile capabilities" through missile launches in May and July, the report said. Pyongyang also continued to violate sanctions "through illicit ship-to-ship transfers" in procurement of WMD-related items and luxury goods, and "as a primary means of importing refined petroleum," it said. The sanctions committee operates under the mandate of the U.N. Security Council. Linda Kim PYONGYANG, August 7 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared that the latest series of missile launches by Pyongyang send "adequate warning" over the South Korea-US military drills. The country's state news media reported on Wednesday that Kim made the statement as he inspected on Tuesday the launch of a new type of tactical guided missiles - the fourth test in 12 days. KCNA said Kim had watched the launches, which verified the "war capacity" of the new armament.North Korea says US 'hell-bent' on sanctions despite seeking dialogue. With the launches carried out satisfactorily, "Kim Jong Un noted that the said military action would be an occasion to send an adequate warning to the joint military drill now under way by the US and South Korean authorities," KCNA said. The drills are taking place despite Pyongyang's warnings that the exercises would jeopardise nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea. In Tokyo on Wednesday, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper met with his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, to discuss the latest developments in North Korea, as well as tensions in the South China Sea. Esper visited Australia and New Zealand before arriving in Japan. He will travel to Mongolia and South Korea during the latter part of his Asia trip. On Tuesday, Pyongyang fired two projectiles that "are assumed to be short-range ballistic missiles" into the sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said earlier. US President Donald Trump last week downplayed North Korea's launches calling them "very standard", while adding that Kim would not want to "disappoint" him. Trump and Kim held an historic summit in Singapore last year, where North Korea made a vague pledge on denuclearisation. Linda Kim SEOUL, August 5 -- South Korea and the United States began a joint military drill Monday despite warnings from North Korea, South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong Doo told parliament. The scaled-back combined command post exercise, called 19-2 Dong Maeng, will be held through Aug. 20 to test South Korea's capability to retake operational control over its forces from the United States during wartime. It mostly involves computer simulations, not mobilization of troops or military equipment. North Korea has said it launched two projectiles, suspected of being short-range ballistic missiles, on July 26 to send a warning to the South over the exercise, which it condemns as a rehearsal for an invasion. It also fired projectiles last Wednesday and Friday, and the South Korean and U.S. militaries are on alert more such provocations during and after the period of the exercise. North Korea has warned that going ahead with the exercise would undermine a commitment made by U.S. President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and could adversely affect working-level negotiations with the United States. South Korea and the United have not held large-scale military drills since June last year when Trump, following his summit with Kim in Singapore, said he wanted to halt "war games" while continuing dialogue with North Korea, calling them "tremendously expensive" and "very provocative." In March, the two sides scrapped two major annual military exercises -- Key Resolve, and Foal Eagle -- that Pyongyang had viewed as provocative, in a bid to support diplomatic efforts on North Korea's denuclearization. At the same time, they launched the smaller-scale Dong Maeng as a replacement for Key Resolve, a computer-simulated command-and-control exercise, and did away with the "counterattack" portion of the exercise, for example. As for Foal Eagle, a field training exercise, it is reportedly being reorganized into low-key smaller-scale drills to be conducted at regular intervals. Linda Lim From early in the morning, many citizens laid flowers and bowed before giant statues of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung and former leader Kim Jong Il, the current leader's grandfather and father, on Mansu Hill in the heart of the capital. North Korean university students -- the men wearing suits and the women clad in the country's high-waisted, long-skirted traditional dresses -- gathered at squares across Pyongyang to dance and celebrate the anniversary.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday that the test of the "new-type tactical guided weapon" on Thursday morning was aimed at sending a "solemn" warning against South Korea's plan to carry out a joint military drill with the United States next month. North Korea has long called on the United States and the South to halt joint military exercises that Pyongyang regards as rehearsals for invasion. On June 30, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed at their meeting at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom that the two countries would resume stalled denuclearization talks within weeks. North Korea designates July 27 as a holiday. In the nation's capital, slogans to celebrate the "victory" in war appear in public spaces. Western countries including Japan share the view that in the war that started in 1950, the U.S.-led United Nations forces had fought alongside South Korea following the North's invasion of the South in June of that year, supported by China and the Soviet Union. In contrast, North Korea claims that the United States waged the war in conspiracy with the South to topple the North. Ensuring the continuation of the political system led by the Kim family is a long-sought goal by Pyongyang. Hostilities ceased with an armistice agreement signed on July 27, 1953, by the U.N. Command, North Korea's military and Chinese armed forces. U.N. Security Council resolutions have banned North Korea from using ballistic missile technology, but Trump has downplayed Pyongyang's latest ballistic missile launches just as he had done after similar missile tests in May. "They haven't done nuclear testing. They really haven't tested missiles other than, you know, smaller ones," Trump said in a telephone interview with Fox News, emphasizing that he is getting along with Kim "very well." Pyongyang fired two missiles from its east coast that fell in the Sea of Japan on Thursday morning, with Seoul saying they were a new type of short-range ballistic missile that flew about 600 kilometers. At working-level talks ahead of the second Trump-Kim summit in February, the United States and North Korea, which have no diplomatic relations, were preparing to declare an end to the Korean War. But at their meeting in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, Kim and Trump fell short of a deal over the gap between Washington's insistence on denuclearization and Pyongyang's demand for economic sanctions relief. At the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit in June 2018 in Singapore, Trump promised to provide security guarantees to Pyongyang, while Kim committed to the "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. |
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