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<\/p>\nKim Jo Yong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, has threatened to scrap inter-Korean co-operation as she condemned ongoing military drills between South Korea and the United States, and cautioned the US against \u201ccausing a stink\u201d if it wants peace, state media reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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The statement comes a day before America\u2019s top diplomat and defence chief, who are currently in Japan, are scheduled to arrive in Seoul.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take this opportunity to warn the new US administration trying hard to give off powder smell in our land,\u201d Kim said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA. \u201cIf it wants to sleep in peace for coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step.\u201d<\/p>\n
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are expected to\u00a0focus on foreign and security policy\u00a0during their time in northeast Asia.<\/p>\n
The timing of Kim\u2019s comments \u2013 the first direct address to the new US administration since Biden took office in January \u2013 seems designed to ensure that North Korea will be at the top of Blinken and Austin\u2019s agenda when they land in Seoul, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a Korea expert at King\u2019s College London.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil now, the discussion was focusing on The Quad, dealing with China and the North Korea policy review,\u201d he said. \u201cNow Kim\u2019s statement will be central to discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s insistence that sanctions be dropped as a prerequisite for denuclearisation.<\/p>\n
In Washington, DC, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Biden administration was conducting a \u201cthorough\u201d review of US policy towards North Korea, and that it was continuing to solicit input from Japan and South Korea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve listened carefully to their ideas, including through trilateral consultation,\u201d Price said. The review is expected to conclude in a few weeks.<\/p>\n
South Korean and American troops began joint military exercises last week, with drills limited to computer simulations because of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the ongoing efforts to engage with the North.<\/p>\n
\u201cWar drills and hostility can never go with dialogue and cooperation,\u201d state media quoted Kim Yo Jong as saying.<\/p>\n
The joint drills have long been a source of anger for Pyongyang and the country called for them to be scrapped at a rare party congress in January.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n