US-S Korea-Japan military drills dangerous: Kim Jong’s sister

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, has strongly criticised upcoming joint military exercises between the United States, Japan, and South Korea as “dangerous” and a “reckless show of strength”, Al Jazeera reported.

The remarks come a day before Seoul and its allies are set to launch drills combining naval, air, and missile defence operations off South Korea's Jeju Island.

The exercises, named ‘Freedom Edge’, are scheduled to continue through Friday. Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the North Korean governing party's central committee, described the drills as a “dangerous idea”.

“This reminds us that the reckless display of power displayed by the US, Japan, and South Korea in the wrong places, namely around the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, will undoubtedly bring about negative consequences for themselves,” she warned.

Her statement follows a visit by Kim Jong Un to weapons research facilities this week, during which he said Pyongyang “would put forward the policy of simultaneously pushing forward the building of nuclear forces and conventional armed forces”.

Observers said North Korea was likely using the allied exercises as a pretext to accelerate both nuclear modernisation and conventional military upgrades. In addition to the trilateral exercises, the US and South Korea plan to stage the ‘Iron Mace’tabletop drills next week.