Pyongyang warns Seoul against joint military exercises with the US
SEOUL – North Korea has warned South Korea against holding new joint military exercises with the US, just days after direct communication channels were restored between the two after a year of suspension.
Such exercises are an “undesirable prelude” that seriously undermine the will of North and South Korean leaders “wishing to see a step taken toward restoring mutual trust,” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s influential sister Kim Yo-jong said on Sunday (Aug 1).
The exercise “further beclouds the way ahead of the north-south relations,” she said, according to state media.
In South Korea, her statement was seen as an attempt to put pressure on Seoul to cancel the upcoming summer manoeuvres.
Kim was referring to the joint drills that are carried out by the United States and South Korea in August.
Pyongyang has regularly said the joint manoeuvres are preparation for an attack, an accusation both Washington and Seoul deny.
Seoul said it is currently unclear when and to what extent the summer manoeuvres will take place this year, fearing the drills could run counter to efforts to hold fresh negotiations with Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons program.
The US and South Korea have reduced some of the drills in the past, partly for diplomatic reasons.
On Tuesday (July 27), North and South Korea reopened their official communication channels after a long radio silence.
According to both sides, the agreement stemmed from an exchange of letters between Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae In from April.
However, the opening of the communication lines should not be understood as anything other than “just the physical reconnection,” Kim’s sister said, adding that “hasty speculation and groundless interpretation” about a new inter-Korean summit was premature.
-dpa