North Korea's Kim Yo-jong Says 'Nothing to Say' on Trump's Joint Drill Reduction

▲ Kim Yo-jong, Vice Department Director of the Workers' Party of Korea

Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and vice department director of the Workers' Party of Korea, has stated that she feels "no interest whatsoever" regarding U.S. President Donald Trump's directive to scale back joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises.

She dismissed President Trump's remarks about communication between the leaders of North Korea and the United States, calling it "something I know nothing about."

Vice Director Kim made the remarks through a statement released via the Korean Central News Agency tonight (August 19) titled "Stance on Major International Issues."

"Speaking of the reduction of the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises suddenly announced by the U.S. president a few days ago, we consider it not even worth evaluating and feel no interest in it whatsoever," Kim said.

She pointed out, "The provocative and aggressive nature of the military exercises does not change simply because their scale or duration is reduced. We are paying closer attention to the reality that they are still ongoing, which is an unmistakable expression of open hostility toward North Korea."

She further emphasized, "If the U.S. side calculates that it can promote its recent measures as some kind of 'goodwill gesture,' it will not get the response it wants."

Regarding communication between the top leaders of North Korea and the United States, Kim dismissed it by saying, "It is something I know nothing about at all. It is probably the only matter concerning our supreme leadership's foreign policy that I am unaware of."

At the same time, she added, "We have already stated multiple times that our head of state holds good personal memories and feelings toward Trump. The relationship between the two leaders remains excellent. This is known to the world, and I do not think it is anything particularly surprising."

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