(LEAD) N. Korean leader′s sister derides Seoul′s Hyunmoo-5 missile as ′worthless′

▲ Transporter erector launchers carrying Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missiles move on the tarmac at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, for South Korea's Armed Forces Day ceremony on Oct. 1, 2024. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) N Korea-S Korea missile

(LEAD) N. Korean leader's sister derides Seoul's Hyunmoo-5 missile as 'worthless'

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with English-language statement, details)

SEOUL, Oct. 3 (Yonhap) -- Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Thursday mocked South Korea's Hyunmoo-5 missile, first showcased in a recent military parade in Seoul, as a "weapon of worthless large bulk."

Kim made the remark in a statement carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency, just two days after South Korea unveiled the missile, known to be able to carry an eight-ton warhead, in a military parade marking Armed Forces Day.

In an apparent show of force, the South's military displayed two 9-axled transporter erector launchers carrying a canister estimated to be about 20 meters long, apparently housing the "high-power" and "high-precision" missile known to be able to target anywhere in North Korea.

In a ceremony marking the anniversary, President Yoon Suk Yeol said North Korea will face the end of its regime if it attempts to use nuclear weapons, warning of a "resolute and overwhelming" response from the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

"If a man has a certain degree of common sense, he could not talk about the 'end of regime' of someone with a weapon of worthless large bulk," Kim said in the statement.

Kim also condemned the appearance of a U.S. B-1B heavy bomber during the Armed Forces Day ceremony, calling it a "pitiful" scene that can only be seen in the "colonial ROK," referring to the South by the acronym of its formal name, the Republic of Korea.

The North Korean leader's sister went on to criticize the South Korean military's establishment of its Strategic Command, saying it is not fitting for a "group which has failed to possess a single strategic weapon."

The new military command officially launched earlier this week to serve as an overarching organ for the South's key weapons systems to deter evolving North Korean nuclear and missile threats.

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