By Kanjyik Ghosh and Brenda Goh
Aug 20 (Reuters) – North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Thursday South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s reaction to a U.S. move to reduce joint drills with Seoul amounted to “double-dealing remarks” that revealed uneasiness and impatience, KCNA reported.
Lee said on his X account on Wednesday that he recognised Trump’s “will and efforts to create conditions for dialogue” with North Korea through the reduction of the exercises.
Military drills by South Korea and the U.S. were cut short to end on Friday after President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in U.S. participation and said he wanted to revive diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim.
“President Trump’s message this time feels like a major decision made with careful consideration to create peace on the Korean Peninsula, moving beyond hostility and confrontation,” Lee said on his X post.
Kim Yo Jong on Thursday called South Korea’s description of the drills reduction “nothing but a lame excuse”, according to North Korea’s KCNA news agency.
Trump said on Monday he had received a response from the North Korean leader after the drills reduction. However, Kim Yo Jong said on Wednesday she was unaware of any recent communications between her brother and Trump, while saying the United States’ “hostile policy” towards Pyongyang had not changed.
Russia, which has been forging closer ties with North Korea, especially since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, on Thursday welcomed the U.S. decision to scale back its military exercises with South Korea.
Speaking at her weekly press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia, as part of the Asia-Pacific region, had repeatedly warned that such exercises risked destabilising the regional security environment.
“Therefore, any measures aimed at reducing the potential for conflict and minimising security risks can only be welcomed,” she said.
(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh and Brend GohAdditional reporting by Maxim RodionovEditing by Toby Chopra and Gareth Jones)
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