Kim Jong-un’s younger sister emerges from the shadows in rare show of her rising power in despot’s regime
KIM Jong-un’s sister has mocked South Korea as a "frightened dog barking" as the North let rip intense live-fire military drills.
Kim Yo Jong dismissed Seoul’s security ministers' "strong concern" over her country’s war games as a "truly senseless act".
North Korean state media has published pictures of a "long-range artillery" drill, after a three-month lull in weapons tests.
Photos also showed troops firing a multiple launch rocket system, first seen last year and estimated by analysts to be about 400mm-450mm in caliber.
State media KCNA said: "The men of long-range artillery pieces on the front participating in the drill proudly demonstrated the accurate marksmanship which they had improved in their training."
The military exercises were condemned by the South Korean government — but Ms Kim dismissed this as "mentally challenged" and likened them to a "frightened dog".
'INCOHERENT AND IMBECILIC WAY OF THINKING'
Ms Kim said: "As far as I know, the South side is also fond of joint military exercises and it is preoccupied with all the disgusting acts like purchasing ultra-modern military hardware.
"They meant they need to get militarily prepared but we should be discouraged from military exercises.
"Such a gangster-like assertion can never be expected from those with normal way of thinking."
She also accused South Korean president Moon Jae-in of an "incoherent and imbecilic way of thinking… guided by the logic that only they can conduct military exercises".
Notably, this was the first time she has made a public statement and indicates her new status among the political hierarchy.
Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defence and Security Forum, told the : "The message aims to solidify political capital for Kim Yo-jong and Kim Jong-un himself, the descendants of the fabled Paektu bloodline."
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Dubbed North Korea’s Ivanka Trump, Ms Kim, has been rising rapidly within the North's power structure and is believed to be in charge of shaping her brother's public persona.
She has kept a low profile until last year, when she was hand-picked to head up Pyongyang's propaganda department last year.
Believed to be aged 32, she is the daughter of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.
She is said to have had a close relationship with brother Kim Jong-un from an early age.
Both studied together in Switzerland between 1996 and 2000 with each depending on the other for company and support during those isolated years.
It is believed she went on to further her education at the Kim Il-sung Military University and then computer science at the Kim Il-sung university.
