South Korea Holds Emergency Security Meeting After Military Threats from Kim Jong-un’s Sister

(Photo : Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS)
North Korea's youth and students wearing protective face masks hold an outdoor rally in protest of the leaflets launched by defectors in South Korea that condemned the Kim Jong Un's regime in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo taken June 6, 2020 and released by Kyodo on June 7, 2020.

After Kim Yo-Jong, the sister of North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un said threw harsh words and threatened to use military force against the South, an emergency meeting on security was held in South Korea.

According to NBC News, North Korean state new agency KCNA reported that the dictator's sister said that she is giving the North Korean military the right to carry out any steps to retaliate against the South, amid the escalating tensions between the two nations.

Yo-Jong did not go into specifics when or what the action that would be taken be. However, she stated that she felt like it was already the time to break ties with South Korea and that the said action will be taken soon. Yo Jong's name has recently been in the headlines after she released statements and harsh words towards South Korea's efforts to defame the regime.

New York Post also reported that South Korea's presidential office, also known as the Blue Hous released a statement through a spokesperson saying that the country's council for national security convened to assess the situation and discussed the steps to be taken in responding in an emergency conference through video.

Meanwhile, the Unification Ministry that handles communications with the Hermit Kingdom reminded both parties that they should always abide by what was stated in the inter-Korean agreements.

On top of this, the Defense Ministry of the south stressed that they are currently taking a serious look at the situation and are assessing the movements of the rogue nation. The ministry added that the country's military is prepared to respond to any situation that may arise.

According to The Guardian, North Korea's anger was prompted as many defectors fled the nation and moved to the South, and adding fuel to the fire is the propaganda leaflets that have crossed the border through flying balloons. While South Korea said that they will be taking action on the organizations that started those acts.

An excuse to restart US negotiations.

In line with this, North Korean expert, Kim Jin Ah from the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said that the North is only using the said leaflets in order to gain enough attention and jumpstart its stagnant negotiations in with the United States.

It can be noted that the talks between Pyongyang and Washington have remained in a doldrum since 2019 after Kim Jong-Un and US President Donald Trump met in a summit but did not come up with any agreement. Thus, Kim Jin Ah suggests that North Korea is seeking to once again broker an agreement with the US due to its need of relief from US-led sanctions.

Meanwhile, international relations lecturer Ramon Pacheco Pardo from King's College London said that it is very reasonable for the Hermit Kingdom's perspective to use tensions with the neighboring nation as a scapegoat from the current domestic conditions that they are suffering from.