North Korea: Kim Jong Un's sister condemns South's drills

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has called South Korea's recent firing drills near the border "suicidal hysteria" and an "inexcusable and explicit provocation."

Describing South Korea as "the enemy," Kim Yo Jong warned of unspecified military steps if the North was further provoked.

"In case it is judged according to our criteria that they violated the sovereignty of (North Korea) and committed an act tantamount to a declaration of war, our armed forces will immediately carry out its mission and duty assigned by the (North Korean) Constitution," she said, according to state media, without elaborating.

In the last two weeks, the South Korean military has resumed live-fire artillery exercises near the tense western maritime border.

The drills are the first of their kind since 2018.

In June, South Korea suspended a 2018 military agreement with the North which was focused on easing military tensions.

Kim Yo Jong on Monday also accused South Korea's government — led by President Yoon Suk Yeol —  of deliberately stoking tensions on the Korean peninsula to divert attention from domestic problems.

She cited an online petition with over a million signatures, calling for Yoon to be impeached.

"Yoon and his group, plunged into the worst ruling crisis, are attempting an 'emergency escape' through the platform of ever-escalating tensions," she said in a statement carried by KCNA.

dvv/jsi (AP, Reuters)