"Not Worth Commenting On, Unaware of Communication Between Leaders": Kim Yo-jong

[Anchor]

Following the significant scaling back of South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises under U.S. President Trump's directive, North Korea has released its official response. Kim Yo-jong, department director of the Workers' Party of Korea, dismissed the reduction, stating she has no interest in it and claiming she is "unaware of any communication between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S."

Reporter Choi Jae-yeong has the details.

[Reporter]

Kim Yo-jong, department director of the Workers' Party of Korea, released a statement last night (August 19) regarding her "stance on major international issues" through the Korean Central News Agency.

First, regarding the scaling back of the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises directed by U.S. President Trump, Kim stated, "We see it as not even worth commenting on and feel no interest in it whatsoever."

She added, "A reduction in the scale or duration of the exercises does not change the provocative and aggressive nature of the military drills," noting, "We are paying closer attention to the reality that they are still ongoing."

In particular, she emphasized, "If the U.S. side calculates that it can publicize its recent measures as 'goodwill gestures,' it will not get the response it wants."

Regarding President Trump's remarks about communication between the leaders of North Korea and the U.S., Kim dismissed them, saying, "It is something I am not aware of" and "It must be the only issue regarding the foreign policy of the supreme leadership that I do not know about."

This appears to make it clear that North Korea has no immediate intention to respond to a one-time scaling back of the joint exercises.

However, she did not completely shut the door on the possibility of dialogue between North Korea and the U.S.

Kim left room for possibility by stating, "Our head of state personally holds good memories and feelings toward Trump," adding, "The relationship between the two leaders is excellent."

(Video Editing: Jeon Min-gyu)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.