Kim Yo Jong, the high-ranking sister of the North Korean leader, has broken six months of silence to berate Seoul’s defense minister and threaten to “reconsider” inter-Korean policy — a warning that past precedent suggests could presage the cutting of hotlines, destruction of South Korean tourist facilities and even military action.

In two separate statements published this week by state media, Kim called Defense Minister Suh Wook “crazy” and “scum-like” and warned that North Korea would exterminate the South Korean army if it touched “one inch” of DPRK territory. The broadside came in response to Suh’s