Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, on Tuesday said North Korea opposes war but would use nuclear weapons if South Korea attacks.

Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in the government and ruling party, said it was a “very big mistake” for South Korea’s minister of defence to make recent remarks discussing attacks on the North, state news agency KCNA reported.

South Korean Defence Minister, Suh Wook, on Friday said his country’s military has a variety of missiles with significantly improved range, accuracy and power, with “the ability to accurately and quickly hit any target in North Korea.”

Both Koreas have increased displays of military strength after North Korea test-fired a range of increasingly powerful missiles.

Officials in Seoul and Washington also fear it may be preparing to resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time since 2017 amid stalled negotiations.

Kim and another North Korean official issued earlier statements on Sunday condemning Suh’s remarks, and warned that Pyongyang would destroy major targets in Seoul if the South takes any “dangerous military action” such as a preemptive strike.

Kim’s criticisms are most likely aimed at South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has called for a more muscular defence against North Korean threats.

Rachel Minyoung Lee, an analyst with the U.S.-based 38 North Project, which monitors North Korea said “Yoon’s ‘preemptive strike’ comment made the headlines a few months ago.

“Pyongyang is seizing Suh’s remarks to make a point to the incoming South Korean administration.

“North Korea has thus far refrained from criticizing Yoon at any authoritative level, but it certainly seems to be laying the groundwork for it.”

The statements suggest Pyongyang was preparing the North Korean public for a possible shift in inter-Korean relations once Yoon takes office in May, Lee added.

According to a statement by the U.S. State Department, a delegation from Yoon’s team was in Washington to meet with U.S. officials, who reiterated their commitment to defending South Korea.

In her statement on Tuesday, Kim said Pyongyang opposes war, which would leave the peninsula in ruins, and does not view South Korea as its principal enemy.

“But if South Korea, for any reason – whether or not it is blinded by misjudgement opts for such military action as ‘preemptive strike’ touted by (Suh Wook), the situation will change.”

“In that case, South Korea itself will become a target.

“If the South Korean military violates North Korea territory, it will face an unimaginably terrible disaster and the North’s nuclear combat force will inevitably have to carry out its duty.”

Kim noted that the South can avoid this fate by dropping any “fantastic daydream” of launching a preemptive attack on a nuclear-armed state.

North Korea says its most recent launch test was for the development of a reconnaissance satellite system, state news agency KCNA reports.

“The DPRK National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) and the Academy of Defence Science conducted an important test on Sunday under the plan of developing a reconnaissance satellite,’’ KCNA reported.

The test helped the two bodies “confirm the characteristics and working accuracy of high definition photographing system, data transmission system and attitude control devices,’’ according to the agency.

Reconnaissance satellites are primarily used for military purposes.

North Korea did not provide any details about the projectile used to transport the cameras, while South Korea and Japan had identified it as a ballistic missile.

UN resolutions prohibit North Korea, a self-declared nuclear power, from testing ballistic missiles, some of which can carry a nuclear warhead.

Pyongyang has been ratcheting up tensions with a series of missile launches since the start of this year.

Sunday’s was the eighth such launch since January. North Korea recently tested a medium-range ballistic missile.

The country had previously tested short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and, according to its own statements, hypersonic missiles that can fly at more than five times the speed of sound.

North Korea is believed to also be working on missiles that would be able to reach the U.S. mainland.

Pyongyang’s series of tests came as South Korea was preparing for presidential elections on March 9.

Washington on Friday offered to provide North Korea 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine through the United Nations’ tools.

Kim Kyung-hyup, the South Korean lawmaker and Chairman of the Intelligence Committee of the National Assembly, disclosed the information.

He added that Pyongyang had greeted the UN with enthusiasm although it had not officially responded yet.

“The vaccines were offered as the North Korean Ambassador to the UN, Kim Song, expressed considerable interest.

He asked whether the vaccines were Pfizer’s or Moderna’s and said that he would report to Pyongyang.

According to the media, the proposal was made in December 2021, but Washington has yet to hear a feedback from North Korea.

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“The North Korea’s position is that it will reconsider if the U.S. does not offer corresponding measures for its suspension of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests,” the lawmaker reportedly added.

At the same time, Pyongyang had repeatedly said that the COVID-19 pandemic failed to penetrate the country.

However, the authorities have continued to impose strict COVID-19 restrictions and strengthen border controls.

North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, blasted his cabinet over the disastrous state of the economy, blaming the ministers for lackluster drafting of the new five-year plan, state media reported.

Delivering the politburo’s report on the plan at the final day of the Korean Workers’ Party plenary meeting, Kim accused the cabinet of lack of innovation and setting targets that do not conform to the party’s ambitions, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

“The idea and policy of the Party Congress are not properly reflected in the proposed plan for economic work for this year and innovative viewpoint and clear tactics can’t be found,’’ Kim’s report read, according to the KCNA.

In an uncharacteristic blitz of public criticism, Kim blamed the ministers for elevating and lowering quotas and inaccurately calculating the economic outlook.

“The cabinet failed to play a leading role in mapping out plans of key economic fields and almost mechanically brought together the numbers drafted by the ministries,’’ Kim was reported as saying.

“As a result, the plan of one field has been raised subjectively and the plans of other fields have been lowered.’’

Kim claimed that the agriculture plan set an unachievable high goal for grain production in spite of unfavorable farming conditions where “the state is unable to supply enough farming materials.’’

Meanwhile, the goals in the construction and power supply sectors were intentionally lowered to avoid being reprimanded when targets are eventually not met, the chairman was paraphrased as saying.

The report goes on to say that such tendencies to suppress ambitions and lower expectations, abusing the slogan of self-reliance, would lead to the “gradual disappearance of the economic authority and control power of the state.’’

In addition to severe UN sanctions aimed at forcing Pyongyang to relinquish its nuclear weapons program, North Korea’s minuscule economy was battered by the pandemic and border closures with China, by far the country’s main trading partner.

In a speech late in 2020, Kim issued a rare apology to the North Korean people over the state of the economy and failure to improve the lives of citizens.

North Korean leader,Kim Jong Un, reportedly appeared in public for the first time in 25 days, South Korean news agency Yonhap said on Monday, amid continued speculation over his health.

KCNA state news agency said Kim on Sunday presided over a politburo meeting of the Workers’ Party which discussed the issue of further tightening the state emergency anti-epidemic system amid a worsening coronavirus pandemic.

According to Yonhap, this marked Kim’s first reported public appearance since Oct. 22, when he was reported to have visited a cemetery in South Pyongyang Province.

North Korean state media usually report the leader’s activity a day after it happens.

Ever since South Korea-based online newspaper Daily NK reported in April that Kim had to undergo heart surgery followed by his conspicuous absence from some key events Korea watchers have been wondering about his health.

Kim Jong Un has apologised after North Korean soldiers shot dead a South Korean ministerial official near the countries’ sea border, the presidential office in Seoul said on Friday.

“In the North Korean ruler’s message, he said that he regretted very much that he had disappointed South Korean President Moon Jae In,’’ South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

It noted that soldiers shot at the man on Tuesday, apparently because they assumed he was an intruder.

The South Korean Defence Ministry previously said the 47-year-old man, an employee of South Korea’s Oceans and Fisheries Ministry, disappeared from a boat while on an inspection tour about 10 kilometres south of the North-South Korean sea border.

South Korea launched a search for him using ships and planes, fearing that the current could have driven the man into North Korean waters.

On Wednesday, citing informants, Yonhap reported that North Korea had recovered the man’s body and cremated it as a measure against the potential spread of the coronavirus.

Although, theories that the man wanted to escape to North Korea have not been ruled out.

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The U.S. Department of State has extended ban on its nationals to travel to North Korea by another year, citing a risk of detention for U.S. passport holders.

The extension was contained in a public notice published by the U.S. Federal Register.

“The department of state has determined that there continues to be serious risk to U.S. citizens and nationals of arrest and long-term detention, representing imminent danger to their physical safety,” the statement said.

According to the department of state, the extension of the travel ban took effect from Sept. 1 and will be valid until Aug. 31, 2021.

The ban can be removed or extended again, depending on the decision of the U.S. Secretary of State.

The ban was introduced in 2017 and then repeatedly extended, with an exception for officials and journalists.

Travel was prohibited after Otto Warmbier, a U.S. college student, was arrested while on a tourist trip to North Korea in January, 2016, for trying to steal a political poster.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but was returned to the U.S. in an unconscious state 17 months later, and died shortly thereafter.

North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, declared an emergency and a lockdown in a border town after a person suspected of being infected with the coronavirus returned from South Korea.

The person had illegally crossed the border, state media said on Sunday.

If confirmed, it would be the first case officially acknowledged by North Korean authorities.

Kim convened an emergency politburo meeting in response to what he called a “critical situation in which the vicious virus could be said to have entered the country’’, the North’s KCNA state news reported.

A person, who defected to South Korea three years ago, returned across the fortified border that divides the two Koreas to the town of Kaesong this month with symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, KCNA reported.

“An emergency event happened in Kaesong City, where a runaway who went to the south three years ago, is suspected to have been infected with the vicious virus.

“The person returned on July 19 after illegally crossing the demarcation line,’’ KCNA said.

KCNA did not say if the person had been tested, but said an “uncertain result was made from several medical check-ups of the secretion of that person’s upper respiratory organ and blood’’, prompting officials to quarantine the person and investigate anyone he may have been in contact with.

One analyst said the announcement was important, not only because North Korea was for the first time reporting a suspected coronavirus case but also because it suggested it was appealing for help.

“It’s an ice-breaking moment for North Korea to admit a case,’’ said Choo Jae-woo, a professor at Kyung Hee University.

“It could be reaching out to the world for help; perhaps for humanitarian assistance.’’

North Korea is under huge economic pressure because of international sanctions over its nuclear programme.

Cho Han-bum, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said it was significant that North Korea was reporting its first suspected coronavirus case was imported.

“North Korea is in such a dire situation, where they can’t even finish building the Pyongyang General Hospital on time.

“Pointing the blame at an ‘imported case’ from South Korea, the North can use this as a way to openly accept aid from the South,’’ Cho said.

KCNA did not elaborate on how the “runaway” had crossed one of the world’s most heavily guarded borders but said the incident was being investigated and the military unit responsible would face “severe punishment”.

South Korean officials were checking to see if a defector had indeed crossed back into the North this month, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported.

North Korea has received thousands of coronavirus testing kits from Russia and other countries and imposed strict border closures.

Thousands of people in North Korea were also quarantined as it took precautions to prevent a coronavirus outbreak but restrictions had recently been eased.

North Korea has no intention to sit down with the United States and urged South Korea to “stop meddling,” a senior diplomat said on Tuesday.

Kwon Jong Gun, director general for U.S. affairs at Pyongyang’s foreign ministry, noted as a U.S. envoy was due to visit Seoul in an effort to renew stalled nuclear talks with Pyongyang.

Kwon accused South Korea of misinterpreting an earlier North Korean statement dismissing an “untimely rumour” about another summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Saturday, North Korea said it does not feel the need for a new summit, days after South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who had offered to mediate between Kim and Trump, suggested the two leaders meet again before the U.S. elections in November.

“It is just the time for South Korea to stop meddling in others’ affairs but it seems there is no cure or prescription for its bad habit.

“Explicitly speaking once again, we have no intention to sit face to face with the United States,” Kwon said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

Trump and Kim met for the first time in 2018 in Singapore, raising hopes for a negotiated end to Pyongyang’s nuclear programmes.

However, their second summit, in 2019 in Vietnam, and subsequent working-level negotiations fell apart.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Kwon’s statement reflected lingering inter-Korean tensions and Pyongyang’s view that nuclear issues should be discussed only with Washington.

“It also suggested that North Koreans would ditch the past concept of negotiations where the South played a broker role, and won’t return to the table without major U.S. concessions,” Yang said.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who led the talks with the North Koreans, is due to arrive in Seoul later for talks with Seoul officials over ways to revive the negotiations.

“There is time for both sides to re-engage and “make substantial progress,” but the coronavirus pandemic would make an in-person summit difficult before the U.S. presidential elections on Nov. 3,’’ Biegun said.

In June, North Korea abruptly raised tensions with South Korea and blew up a joint liaison office, just on its side of the border, before just as suddenly suspending plans for unspecified military actions.

Around 183 million people in 47 countries, including North Korea, are facing the possibility of severe food insecurity as border closures and disruptions in global supply chains have restricted their access to farming products, a UN food agency said.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) also estimated in a report that around US$350 million will be needed this year to provide necessary assistance to those countries facing a looming crisis.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic is devastating lives, public health systems, livelihoods and economies across the world, populations living in food crisis contexts and those whose resilience has been eroded by previous crises are particularly exposed to its effects,” the report said.

“Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic is already directly affecting food systems through impacts on food supply and demand, and indirectly through decreases in purchasing power, the capacity to produce and distribute food, and the intensification of care tasks, all of which will have differentiated impacts and will more strongly affect the poor and vulnerable,” it added.

The report noted, “There is a serious risk that people will experience famine conditions if needs are not met,” saying that around $350 million will be required “to ensure the provision of critical assistance where there are already high levels of need.”

It, however, did not provide details on situations in North Korea, such as how many people are facing food shortage problems.

North Korea has been struggling with chronic food shortages caused by unfavorable weather and global sanctions restricting its access to fertiliser and other key farming materials.

Compounding the situation is the North’s decision to close its border with China in late January to block the spread of the coronavirus, which observers expect to hamper grain imports.

“It is too early to gauge the impact of the coronavirus on the North’s grain production but it appears to be significantly disrupting imports of materials, including grains from outside,” an official of South Korea’s unification ministry told reporters.

South Korea’s state-run Rural Development Administration projected that North Korea produced an estimated 4.64 million tons of grains last year, which the official said fell around 860,000 tons short of what the country usually needs to feed its 25 million citizens.

He noted that North Korea is showing no signs of easing its border closure and that the food shortage situation in the country is expected to continue.

In March, FAO designated North Korea as a country facing a food shortage, while the World Meteorological Organisation, another UN agency, projected that around 10 million people in the country will require urgent food assistance.

North Korea’s media outlets have recently ramped up calls for “food self-reliance” as the rice transplanting season has gone into full swing.