PYONGYANG: Kim Jo Yong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has warned the new US administration not to “cause a stink”, as President Joe Biden prepares to set out his Korean policy.
The statement comes a day before America’s top diplomat and defence chief, who are currently in Japan, are scheduled to arrive in Seoul. In remarks on state media, Kim Yo-jong criticised the US and South Korea for conducting joint military drills.
“We take this opportunity to warn the new US administration trying hard to give off powder smell in our land,” Kim said, adding, “If it wants to sleep in peace for coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step.”
The US government has said it has been trying for weeks to make diplomatic contact with North Korea. Pyongyang has yet to acknowledge that President Biden is now in office.
She reiterated her country’s opposition to the joint military exercises – which North Korea describes as preparations for invasion – saying, “The South Korean government yet again chose the ‘March of War’, the ‘March of Crisis’.”
North Korea has so far rebuffed US calls for dialogue, the White House said on Monday, as the chill in relations that began under previous President Donald Trump extended into Joe Biden’s presidency.
Leader Kim Jong Un had three high-profile summit meetings with Trump and exchanged a series of letters but relations broke down over the North’s insistence that sanctions be dropped as a prerequisite for denuclearisation.
