North Korea's Kim Yo Jong vows immediate strike if any provocation

North Korea's official Central News Agency reported on Sunday that Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said that her country's army would unleash "a hail of fire" immediately in the event of any provocation.

These comments come after South Korea stated that North Korea fired over 60 artillery shells on Saturday near their disputed maritime borders, following a similar launch of more than 200 shells in the area the previous day.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, citing the South Korean military, reported that North Korea fired again on Sunday.

Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by the Central News Agency, "Let me make it clear once again that our army has already opened the trigger."

She added, "Our army will immediately unleash a hail of fire in the case of any minor provocation."

Despite South Korea firing exercises at sea on Friday in response to the artillery shells, Yonhap News Agency stated that there is no plan to do so after yesterday's events.

The combat drills held on Friday led to warnings for residents of the South Korean border islands to seek shelter despite no reports of shells crossing the maritime border.

Kim denied in the statement the firing of shells on Saturday, stating that North Korea had detonated explosives as a deception.

South Korea's military rejected Kim's statements, describing them as low-level psychological warfare, and urged North Korea to cease military activities that heighten tension near the borders.

Reuters