SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called South Korea’s recent front-line live-fire drills “suicidal hysteria” as she threatened unspecified military steps Monday if further provoked.
The warning by Kim Yo Jong came after South Korea resumed firing exercises near its tense land and sea borders with North Korea in the past two weeks. The exercises were the first of their kind since South Korea suspended a 2018 agreement with the North aimed at easing front-line military tensions in June.
“The question is why the enemy kicked off such war drills near the border, suicidal hysteria, for which they will have to sustain terrible disaster,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media.
She accused South Korea’s conservative government of deliberately escalating tensions as a way to escape a domestic political crisis. She said the riskiness of the South Korean drills is clear to everyone as they happened amid “a touch-and-go situation” established after the U.S., South Korea and Japan recently held a new trilateral military exercise that North Korea views as a security threat.
“In case it is judged according to our criteria that they violated the sovereignty of (North Korea) and committed an act tantamount to a declaration of war, our armed forces will immediately carry out its mission and duty assigned by the (North Korean) constitution,” she said, without elaborating.
Later Monday, Koo Byoungsam, a spokesperson at South Korea’s Unification Ministry, described Kim's statement as an attempt to trigger an internal divide in South Korea, saying that North Korea must first look at its own human rights violations and the international isolation caused by its nuclear program.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry separately said it will continue its live-fire drills as scheduled but didn’t say when and where new exercises are planned.
North Korea has been engaged in a provocative run of weapons tests since 2022. But its two recent tests — one on a missile with “a super-large warhead” and the other on a multiwarhead missile — drew widespread skepticism from South Korean officials and experts who said North Korea likely fabricated successful launches to cover up failed tests.
In early June, South Korea fully suspend the 2018 inter-Korean military pact after North Korea flew balloons carrying manure, cigarette butts and wastepaper across the border to protest South Korean activists scattering political leaflets in the North via their own balloons.
The military agreement — reached during a short-lived era of reconciliation between the Koreas — required the two countries to cease all hostile acts at border areas, such as live-firing drills, aerial surveillance and psychological warfare. The deal had already been in the danger of collapse, with both Koreas taking steps in breach of it amid animosities over North Korea’s spy satellite launch last November.
FILE - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's younger sister Kim Yo Jong, center, arrives at the Jinbu train station in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Feb. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
FILE - Kim Yo Jong attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 2, 2019. The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called South Korea’s recent front-line live-fire drills “suicidal hysteria” as she threatened unspecified military steps Monday, July 8, 2024, if further provoked. (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP, File)
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — England is aiming to challenge struggling Pakistan with a new-look pace attack in the opening test of a three-match series, starting in the searing heat of Multan on Monday.
Fast bowler Brydon Carse will make his test debut with Gus Atkinson set to play his first overseas test after his impressive home season against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.
All-rounder Chris Woakes was penciled in to the starting XI after Ben Stokes was ruled out for the fourth successive test match due to ongoing rehabilitation on his injured hamstring. Woakes will be playing his first match in two-and-a-half years and it will be his first test in Asia since 2016.
Carse’s pace gave him the edge over Olly Stone and Matthew Potts for the tour of Pakistan and England hopes the Durham pace bowler will challenge the batters by regularly clocking over 90mph.
England will be led by Ollie Pope, who guided the team to a 2-1 home series against Sri Lanka in the absence of the injured Stokes. The England captain sustained his hamstring injury during the Hundred and might return to lead the side in the second test, also in Multan.
“I was kind of just learning on the job,” Pope said. “Obviously my first time captain abroad. Ben’s going to be around as well… so I can listen to the voices around me but still keep doing things in my way.”
England flattened Pakistan 3-0 through its high-risk, high-reward “Bazball” approach during the 2022 tour when it played at Multan, Karachi and Rawalpindi.
They were scheduled to play at the same venues this time around, but renovation work at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi for next year’s Champions Trophy forced the Pakistan Cricket Board to organize back-to-back tests at Multan with Rawalpindi set to host the third test from Oct. 24.
England also named spinners Jack Leach and Shoaib Bashir in the playing XI in anticipation of the pitch flattening out in temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius that are expected over the next week in Multan. Leach was the second highest wicket-taker in the last series in Pakistan with 15 wickets.
“Everyone’s so happy to have Leach in and around the squad for this series,” Pope said. “We obviously saw how well he bowled last time here on pitches that (are) always offering a great deal ... and he’s worked closely with Shoaib Bashir throughout his Somerset career and those guys go really well.”
Pakistan has strengthened its batting line-up by including all-rounder Aamer Jamal for the first test after being routed 2-0 by Bangladesh at home in the last series. Shan Masood has lost all five test matches since he was elevated to red-ball captain.
Masood lost 3-0 to Australia in his debut series as test skipper when Jamal took 18 wickets and came in handy as a batter down the order. Jamal missed the series against Bangladesh because he was undergoing rehabilitation on a back injury.
“We have got an edge with the return of Aamer Jamal,” Masood said. “He also bats down the order and picked up 18 wickets. We have (leg-spinner) Abrar and (off-spinner) Salman to give us spin options.”
Pakistan has a woeful record in home test matches and hasn’t won at home since beating South Africa 2-0 in early 2021, while losing to England, Australia and Bangladesh. New Zealand also came close, but Pakistan managed to draw the series 0-0.
Pakistan had its moments to beat England when both teams last met at Multan two years ago. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed made an impressive debut by grabbing 11 wickets before Pakistan narrowly lost by 26 runs when Mark Wood, missing in this series due to injury, claimed the key wicket of Saud Shakeel.
“It was my dream debut and last time we lost quite close,” Abrar said on the eve of the first test. “I hope to give a match-winning performance this time around and bring some happy moments.”
Pakistan's top-order batters have long been struggling and premier batter Babar Azam hasn’t scored a half-century in his last 16 test innings. Opener Abdullah Shafique also struggled against Bangladesh while Masood couldn’t convert starts into big scores with only one half-century in four innings.
But Masood insisted Pakistan needed to give its struggling batters a longer run as he searched to win key moments and find momentum in the series against aggressive England.
“We came close to winning last time, but we let the matches slip away,” Masood said. “We know how they play, but at the end of the day we have to see how to tackle it. We are clear in our mind and that’s why we have named the XI.”
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Pakistan's test team's head coach Jason Gillespie, center right, examines the pitch preparing for 1st test cricket match between England and Pakistan, as England's coach Brendon McCullum, right, watch, before a practice session, in Multan, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's test team skipper Shan Masood, left, and his England's counterpart Ollie Pope pose arrive for a photo shoot with test series trophy, in Multan, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
England's skipper Ollie Pope speaks during a press conference regarding 1st test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's test team skipper Shan Masood speaks during a press conference regarding 1st test cricket match against Pakistan, in Multan, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's test team skipper Shan Masood, right, and his England's counterpart Ollie Pope pose for photograph with test series trophy, in Multan, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
England team's Brendon McCullum, center, in glasses, briefs in a team meeting prior to practice session, in Multan, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
England's Olly Stone, left, briefs a bowling technique to Brydon Carse during a practice session, in Multan, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's test team skipper Shah Masood, left, chats with test team's head coach Jason Gillespie during a practice session, in Multan, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's test team's head coach Jason Gillespie, left, chats with England's coach Brendon McCullum, second right before a practice session, in Multan, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's Sarfaraz Ahmed, second right, chats with teammates as they examine the pitch preparing for 1st test cricket match between England and Pakistan, before a practice session, in Multan, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
England's coach Brendon McCullum, second right, examines the pitch preparing for 1st test cricket match between England and Pakistan, before a practice session, in Multan, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
