North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong says joint US-South Korea drills to harm regional stability

(Reuters)

SEOUL, March 10 – North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, ​the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, ‌said U.S.-South Korea military drills that began this week were a “provocative and aggressive war rehearsal” that would harm regional stability, state media ​KCNA reported on Tuesday.

The annual Freedom Shield military ​exercises revealed the allies’ “habitual hostile policy” toward North ⁠Korea and “will further destroy regional stability,” Kim said in a ​statement.

Kim described the drills in South Korea as involving ​more than 18,000 South Korean and U.S. forces and being staged “day and night across the territorial ground, sea, air, ​outer space and cyberspace” of North Korea.

South Korea ​and the United States have said the drills, which run from ‌March ⁠9 to 19, were “defensive in nature” and would incorporate deterrence scenarios related to North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

The exercise will also serve as an opportunity to support ongoing ​preparations for ​the transfer ⁠of U.S. wartime operational control to South Korea, officials from both countries have ​said.