Seoul:
The sister of North Korean leader, Kim Yo Jong, criticised ongoing military drills in South Korea and warned the new U.S. administration against “causing a stink” if it desires peace, state news reported on Tuesday.
The statement comes a day prior to America’s leading diplomat and defence chief are due to arrive in Seoul for their 1st talks with South Korean counterparts.
“We take this opportunity to warn the new U.S. administration trying hard to give off powder smell in our land,” Kim mentioned in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.
“If it wants to sleep in peace for coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step.”
North Korea has so far rebuffed entreaties from the United States to engage in dialogue, the White House mentioned on Monday, as a chill in relations that started below then-President Donald Trump has extended into Joe Biden’s presidency.
Leader Kim Jong Un had 3 higher-profile summit meetings with Trump and exchanged a series of letters, but the nuclear-armed state ended talks and mentioned it would not engage additional unless the United States drops its hostile policies.
South Korean and American troops started a joint springtime military drill, which was restricted to laptop or computer simulations mainly because of the coronavirus danger as properly as the ongoing efforts to engage with the North.
“War drills and hostility can never go with dialogue and cooperation,” mentioned Kim Yo Jong, who has develop into a vocal critic of Seoul in state media dispatches.
She mocked South Korea for “resorting to shrunken war games, now that they find themselves in the quagmire of political, economic and epidemic crisis.”
The inter-Korean engagement that had enhanced in 2018 and is sought by South Korea “won’t come easily again” and North Korea will be watching to see if there is additional provocations, she mentioned.
North Korea would look at pulling out of an inter-Korean military agreement aimed at minimizing tensions along their shared border, and would assessment no matter whether to dissolve various organisations aimed at cooperation with the South, Kim mentioned.
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