The aircraft carrier USS George Washington aircraft carrier, center bottom, sails in formation with U.S., South Korean and Japanese guided-missile destroyers during the Freedom Edge exercise in the East China Sea, Nov. 13, 2024. (Geoffrey Ottinger/U.S. Navy)
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has condemned ongoing military drills by the United States, South Korea and Japan, warning they “will inevitably bring bad results,” according to state media.
Kim Yo Jong, a member of the State Affairs Commission, called the drills a “reckless show of strength” near North Korea’s borders, in a statement published Sunday by the Korean Central News Agency. She accused the three countries of continuing to adopt “confrontational” policies toward Pyongyang.
Pyongyang has consistently criticized the Seoul’s joint military exercises with foreign forces, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Koo Byongsam said Monday at a news conference in Seoul. He said the South remains committed to the goal of North Korea’s denuclearization.
Kim’s published remarks came a day after KCNA reiterated the North’s status as an “irreversible” nuclear weapons state. The country codified its pursuit of nuclear arms by amending its constitution in 2023.
The U.S. and South Korea on Monday launched two separate military exercises in and around the peninsula.
Iron Mace, a five-day tabletop exercise hosted at Camp Humphreys, about 40 miles south of Seoul, is focused on integrating the allies’ nuclear threat strategies.
Freedom Edge, also set for five days, is designed to counter naval and air threats in waters off South Korea’s Jeju Island. The training includes Japanese forces and is considered the most advanced version of the exercise, according to a statement last week from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Previous versions of Freedom Edge lasted three days and included the aircraft carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS George Washington.
The latest exercises follow Ulchi Freedom Shield, 11 days of large-scale training completed two weeks ago across South Korea involving 18,000 South Korean troops and an unspecified number of U.S. forces.
Pyongyang often conducts weapons tests around the time of such drills. On June 29, 2024, two days after Freedom Edge, the North fired two ballistic missiles off its southwestern coast.