Kim Yo Jong Warns of “More Aggressive” Response to US-Led Pacific Vanguard

Kim Yo Jong, the influential younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused Washington of escalating regional tensions through repeated military drills and warned that Pyongyang could mount a “more aggressive” response, according to an official statement released by state media on Friday.

“Pacific Vanguard” Naval Exercises Conclude Near Guam

The United States, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand conducted their annual joint naval exercise “Pacific Vanguard” from 29 August to 10 September around the U.S. territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. According to the U.S. Armed Forces, the drills aim to strengthen participating nations’ capacity to carry out coordinated maritime operations in the region.

Kim Yo Jong’s Official Statement on Countermeasures

Kim Yo Jong, who officially serves as Director of the Public Affairs Department of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang, stated via the Korean Central News Agency: “The current situation—marked by new record highs in hostile, operational acts against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea—underscores the necessity for new record highs in our countermeasures, whether equivalent or of a more aggressive nature.”

She described the recurring U.S.-led military exercises as “the primary source behind the continuous worsening of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region,” and labeled them “a rehearsal for a U.S.-led war.” She added: “Our resolve to defend our sovereignty will manifest in more explicit measures, and there will be no change—under any circumstances—in the course of bolstering our nuclear deterrent capabilities.”

In a further warning, she said: “I remind the enemy once again that if it becomes evident that our nation’s supreme interests, our military sovereignty, and the regional security environment have suffered grave violations due to their military maneuvers, the armed forces of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will implement the relevant provisions—fulfilling their constitutional obligations—and mobilize all available means to counter such actions.”

Nuclear Weapons as Core Regime Guarantee

North Korea, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 and has since developed an extensive arsenal of ballistic missiles, regards nuclear weapons as the supreme guarantee of the regime’s survival.

Subject to stringent United Nations sanctions, the country has not returned to negotiations on its nuclear program since the collapse of the second summit between Kim Jong Un and then-U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019.