N Korea warns Seoul-Washington drills bring 'terrible consequences'

PYONGYANG

The powerful sister of North Korea's leader warned of "terrible consequences" on Tuesday over annual South Korea-U.S. military drills, weeks after Pyongyang dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul.

Seoul and Washington kicked off their springtime military drills "Freedom Shield" on March 9, which will involve about 18,000 Korean troops and run until March 19. It is unclear how many U.S. troops will be involved at this time.

The nuclear-armed North, which attacked its neighbor in 1950 triggering the Korean War, has long described the exercises as rehearsals for invasion.

Kim Yo Jong, a powerful confidante of her brother Kim Jong Un, said the joint drills "may cause unimaginably terrible consequences," Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

She was recently promoted to head the North Korean ruling party's general affairs department, a role analysts describe as akin to a party secretary-general.

Her comments came after her brother recently described Seoul's latest peace efforts as a "clumsy deceptive farce" and that North Korea has "absolutely no business dealing with South Korea."

Kim Yo Jong went on to say the drills are taking place at "a critical time when global security structure is collapsing rapidly and wars break out in different parts of the world."

She said the situation is caused by "the reckless acts of the outrageous international rogues."

North Korea and the United States are longtime adversaries, but Washington has been pushing to revive high-level talks with the North in recent months.