North Korea Tells New US Administration To Cease War Games if Wants To ‘Sleep in Peace’

The sister of North Korean leader, Kim Yo Jong, criticised ongoing military drills in South Korea and warned the new U.S. administration that the smell of cordite wafting over the border would not help bring peace…

ReutersMar 16, 20214 min read

‘SHRUNKEN WAR GAMES’

Kim Yo Jong mocked South Korea for “resorting to shrunken war games, now that they find themselves in the quagmire of political, economic and epidemic crisis.”

Boo Seung-chan, a spokesman for South Korea’s Ministry of Defence, said the drills were routine and defensive in nature.

“The ministry’s position is that North Korea must show a flexible attitude, such as responding to dialogue, to build a lasting and solid peace on the Korean Peninsula,” he told a briefing.

The inter-Korean engagement that had improved in 2018 and is sought by South Korea “won’t come easily again” and North Korea will be watching to see if there is further provocations, said Kim.

She said North Korea would consider pulling out of an inter-Korean Military agreement aimed at reducing tensions along their shared border, and would review whether to dissolve several organisations aimed at cooperation with the South.

Kim’s statement, as colourful as it is, is generally consistent with past North Korean statements expressing frustrations at disparities between words and actions, said Jenny Town, director of 38 North, a U.S.-based website that tracks North Korea.

(Reporting by Sangmi Cha and Josh Smith; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese, Richard Pullin and Tom Hogue)