Sister of her leader North Korea warned today, Tuesday, that her country is ready to take “quick, overwhelming action” against the United States and South Koreathe day after the US launched a B-52 bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons in a show of force against the North.

A joint US-South Korean B-52 bomber exercise over the Korean Peninsula on Monday was the latest in a series of exercises by the two allies in recent months. Soldiers are also preparing to resume a major field exercise later this month.

Kim Yo-jong did not elaborate on planned actions in her statement, but North Korea frequently conducted missile tests in response to US-South Korean military exercises, which it sees as a rehearsal for an invasion.

“We are closely monitoring the nervous military activities of the US troops and the South Korean puppet army and are always ready to take appropriate, immediate and decisive action at any time in accordance with our opinion,” said Kim Yo-jong in a statement that was released. broadcast by state media.

“The blatant military action and all sorts of rhetoric from the US and South Korea that is so desperate that it cannot be ignored certainly sets the stage for (North Korea) to be forced to do something to deal with it,” he said. He. .

Following Monday’s exercise, South Korea’s defense ministry said the deployment of the B-52s demonstrated a decisive allied capability to deter North Korean attacks. Earlier this year, the US deployed one US B-1B long-range bomber or several B-1Bs to the peninsula. The US and South Korea also held exercises in Washington last month to hone their response to nuclear threats from North Korea.

Last Friday, the South Korean and U.S. military announced they would conduct a computer-assisted exercise at the command center from March 13 to 23, before resuming the largest field exercise last held in 2018 in the spring.

The allies have canceled or scaled back some of their regular exercises since 2018 to bolster their now dormant diplomacy with North Korea and guard against the COVID-19 pandemic. But they resumed the exercise after North Korea conducted a record number of missile tests last year and openly threatened to use its nuclear weapons in a possible conflict with its rivals.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry called the overflight of a US B-52 bomber a reckless provocation that drives the situation on the peninsula “even deeper into a bottomless quagmire.” The statement, attributed to the ministry’s unnamed foreign affairs bureau chief, said “there is no guarantee that there will be no violent conflict” if US-South Korean military provocations continue.

North Korea often unleashes fiery rhetoric at times of heightened animosity with the United States and South Korea. Possible steps North Korea could take include nuclear testing or launching a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) aimed at the US mainland, observers say.

Last month, Kim Yo Jung threatened to turn the Pacific Ocean into a testing ground for the North. In a statement on Tuesday, she said North Korea would treat a possible US attempt to intercept North Korea’s ICBM as a declaration of war. South Korean media reports say the US military plans to shoot down a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile if it is tested towards the Pacific Ocean.

All known North Korean ICBM tests have been conducted in orbit to avoid hitting neighboring countries, with the missiles landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

South Korea moved on Monday to ease a bitter historic dispute with Japan in a bid to boost trilateral Seoul-Tokyo-Washington security cooperation. The move includes a plan that uses local funds to compensate Koreans who did forced labor during Tokyo’s colonial rule, but does not require Japanese companies to contribute to the reparations.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel on Monday praised the leaders of South Korea and Japan, saying they understand that “opportunities for cooperation in the future are more important and more valuable, realizing that they have to deal with historical issues.”

Source: Associated Press.