The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday warned that next month’s annual military drills between South Korean and U.S. troops will undermine prospects for better ties between the Koreas.
Kim Yo Jong’s statement carried by state media targets only South Korea, and this could add credence to a theory that North Korea’s decision to restore the communication lines is mainly aimed at pushing Seoul to convince Washington to make concessions while nuclear diplomacy remains deadlocked.
She added that the North Korean government and army will closely follow whether the South Korean side stages hostile war exercises in August or makes other bold decision.
Regular drills between Seoul and Washington have been a long-running source of animosities on the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea calling them an invasion rehearsal and responding with missile tests. South Korea and the U.S. have repeatedly said their drills are defensive in nature.
In the past few years, South Korea and the U.S. have canceled or downsized some of their exercises to support diplomatic efforts to end the North Korean nuclear crisis or because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked about prospects for next month’s summertime drills, Boo Seung-Chan, a spokesman at South Korea’s Defense Ministry, told a briefing Thursday that Seoul and Washington were reviewing factors like the pandemic’s current status, efforts to achieve denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and their combined military readiness.
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