Pyongyang is ready to respond with force to any βfoolish miscalculationβ by Seoul, Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has said.
On Friday, Seoul announced that it was evacuating Yeonpyeong Island after North Korea fired 200 artillery shells off the west coast. It said the projectiles landed in a maritime buffer zone established between the neighbors under a 2018 deal, from which Pyongyang later withdrew.
South Korea reacted to what it called a βcrisis-escalating situationβ by launching 400 shells of its own into the sea, in the same area. According to Seoul, it was followed by the North firing another 60 shells in the buffer zone on Saturday.
In her statement on Sunday, Kim Yo-jong, who is a senior figure in North Koreaβs ruling Workersβ Party, denied the latest claim by the South. PyongyangΒ βdidnβt fire even a single shell into the relevant watersβΒ on Saturday, she insisted.
