North Korea says it has 'no interest' in reduced U.S.-South Korea drills
by Thomas Maresca · UPISEOUL, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Wednesday that North Korea has "no interest" in the reduction of U.S.-South Korea joint military drills ordered this week by U.S. President Donald Trump in a move seen as an attempt to kick-start dialogue with Pyongyang.
"As for the reduction of the U.S.-ROK joint military drill abruptly announced by the U.S. president a few days ago, we regard it as the one unworthy of comment and have no interest in it at all," Kim wrote in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
"The reduction of the scale and duration of the drill does not mean the change of the nature of the military drill with a provocative and offensive feature," she said.
Earlier Wednesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that the allies would cut short their ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercise by almost a week and scale back field training drills.
The annual exercise, which began Monday, will wrap up Friday instead of its scheduled end date of Aug. 27.
Trump called for the drills to be "substantially reduced" in a Truth Social post Sunday, saying they are expensive and "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea.
He also touted his personal relationship with Kim Jong Un, saying in an Oval Office press availability on Monday that Kim had "always treated me with great respect."
"I understand him. He understands me," Trump said, adding that Kim had responded to his requests for talks but providing no further details.
North Korea frequently condemns U.S.-South Korean military drills as rehearsals for an invasion, and Trump's directive was widely seen as an effort to restart direct diplomacy with Kim.
Kim Yo Jong, however, rejected the notion that the reduction represented a goodwill gesture, saying Pyongyang was focused on the continuation of joint military exercises rather than the shortening of any individual drill.
"If the U.S. calculates that it can propagate its recent measure as the one of so-called good faith, they will not get desired answer," she said.
The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported Tuesday that Trump is pushing aides to arrange a meeting with Kim as soon as this fall, although no official planning is underway.
In her statement, Kim said she had no knowledge of any recent communication between Trump and her brother.
"I am not aware of it at all," she said.
Kim added that the relationship between the two leaders is "still excellent" but drew a distinction between their personal relationship and Washington's broader approach to Pyongyang.
"I had already clarified several times that our head of state has good memories and feelings about Trump personally," she said. "However, the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK has remained unchanged and the U.S. and its followers are now violently conducting hostile military activities against the DPRK even this moment."
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
Trump and Kim met three times during Trump's first term, including summits in Singapore and Hanoi and a brief meeting at the DMZ. However, the meetings ultimately failed to produce a nuclear deal or sustained diplomatic engagement.