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North Korea has dismissed Donald Trump’s decision to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea and cast doubt on the US president’s claim that there had been communication between Pyongyang and Washington.
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un who sometimes speaks on his behalf, said in a statement late on Wednesday evening that the reduction of the joint exercises was “not even worth commenting on” and cutting their size or duration did not change their “provocative and aggressive” nature.
If the US saw the move “as some kind of ‘goodwill measure’, they will not get the answer they desire”, she said.
Kim also cast doubt on Trump’s claim that he and her brother had been in recent contact, saying she was “completely unaware” of any such communication.
But she said Kim Jong Un had “fond personal memories and feelings” towards Trump and that relations between the two leaders remained “excellent”.
Ulchi Freedom Shield is one of two major annual exercises conducted by South Korea and the US and is intended to prepare their forces for potential conflict with North Korea, which has long denounced the drills as rehearsals for an invasion.
After Trump intervened on Monday, describing the exercises as “inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, Seoul announced they would end on Friday, six days earlier than planned.
Trump is seeking to revive the personal diplomacy of his first term, when he met the North Korean leader three times in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to secure the country’s denuclearisation. He has said he expects to meet Kim again and has reportedly been urging aides to arrange a summit by autumn.
Kim Yo Jong’s response to Trump’s overture, “though negative, is displaying some re-engagement which has been absent up until now”, said Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Cha also noted it was her typical role to play “bad cop” to her brother’s “good cop” when dealing with the US.
“It is difficult to interpret this announcement as a rejection of US-North Korea dialogue itself,” said Choi Eunju of the Sejong Institute. Pyongyang was maintaining its demand for a change in US policy while “leaving the personal relationship between the leaders as a separate channel that could be used in the future”, she added.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, visiting Seoul on Wednesday, said a potential summit between the US and North Korea was a matter for the two countries, but that Washington “must change its longstanding hostile policy toward North Korea”.
Any renewed summitry would take place with North Korea in a stronger position than during Trump’s first term.
On Wednesday, Trump himself acknowledged this, telling reporters North Korea now had “57 very powerful nuclear weapons”. Pyongyang has also expanded its conventional arsenal and formed a strategic alliance with Russia, sending troops and weapons to support Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine in return for cash and military technology.
In her statement, Kim Yo Jong referenced Russia five times and said her country “fully supports the just actions” of Moscow in Ukraine. She also rejected as “entirely baseless” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s claim that Pyongyang was preparing to send another 50,000 troops to support Russia.
Choi of the Sejong Institute said: “The message is that the US also needs to take into account the changed international environment and North Korea’s strategic position compared with 2018-19.”
Just two hours after Kim Yo Jong’s statement, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung took a more optimistic tone in a post on X.
Despite the criticism of Seoul in Trump’s announcement, Lee said Trump’s move “feels like a momentous decision born out of deep deliberation to move beyond hostility and confrontation towards building peace on the Korean Peninsula”. He added he hoped it would “lead to the resumption of dialogue and ultimately bring about a stable peace regime”.
