Kim Yo-Jeong Sends “Dangerous Message” to Japan by Threatening South Korea with Nuclear Weapons

“Bloodthirsty scum.”

“Careless trash who spouts delusions of entitlement with impunity.”

Kim Yo-Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, cursed South Korean dignitaries in fiery language.

The target was Defense Minister Suh Wook. At a meeting of the Army Strategic Command on April 1, Suh said, “If there are clear signs of a North Korean missile launch, we have the capability and readiness to attack the launch base and command facilities”. Yo-Jong took this as a reference to a “preemptive strike,” and published a scathing condemnation in the April 3 issue of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s official newspaper, the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Labor Daily.

She also made the following comment to the same newspaper on April 5, referring to the use of nuclear weapons.

If South Korea chooses to engage in a military confrontation, our nuclear combat arms will have no choice but to carry out their mission. In such a situation, a terrible attack would be launched and the South Korean army would be destroyed. We would have to accept a disastrous fate that would be close to total annihilation.

In war, the mission of the nuclear force is to eliminate the military power of the enemy at once. Nuclear combat arms are mobilized to seize the initiative in the early stages of a battle, to demoralize the opponent, to prevent a prolonged war, and to preserve one’s own military power.

Pisses me off.”

Until now, North Korea has emphasized that its nuclear weapons are for use against the U.S., saying that they are “the treasured sword in the grasp of our people” and “to suppress nuclear provocative measures by the U.S. imperialists. This time, however, Kim Yo-Jong suggested that the weapons could be used against South Korea.

Yo-Jong said that even if the signs of a North Korean missile launch that South Korea has detected are false, it would be a serious situation. He threatened that they would face nuclear retaliation for their misjudgment. Even if the signs of a launch are true, they are probably trying to justify their own attack by claiming that ‘South Korea is wrong.’

Yo-Jong’s remarks are by no means solely bilateral between North and South Korea. There is also a hidden message for Japan. Daily NK Japan Editor-in-Chief Ko Yong Ki, an expert on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, explains.

In Yo-Jong’s statement, he said, “If someone does not touch us, we will never attack first.” He dares to use the word “someone” instead of “South Korea”. This comment must have been made with the United States and Japan in mind.

In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held its first meeting in 2008 to discuss the proactive approach to missile defense. On April 11 of this year, the party’s Security Research Council held a discussion to review the Self-Defense Forces’ “exclusive defense” and also discussed enemy base attacks. I believe that North Korea was trying to deter such moves toward a “first strike” by Japan.

“Yo-Jong’s statement is not a mere threat.” Yong Ki continues.

When a group of North Korean defectors scattered leaflets defaming North Korea in 2008, he called the Moon Jae-in administration “disgusting” and “nauseating.” Immediately afterward, he blew up the “North-South Joint Liaison Office,” which was South Korea’s de facto embassy. Yo-Jong is not only threatening his opponents, he is actually taking action. Japan, too, must not forget that the nuclear threat is very close at hand.

With Yo-Jong’s remarks, the situation on the Korean Peninsula is once again becoming increasingly tense.