Seoul, August 1

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said on Sunday that if South Korea carried out a planned joint military exercise with the US, it would damage the resolve of the two Koreas to rebuild relations, state media KCNA reported.

She also said the recent decision to restore hotlines between the two Koreas should not be seen as anything more than reconnecting "physical" ties, and that it would be “thoughtless” to assume that summits were around the corner. Her comments come at a time when North and South Korea are in talks to hold a summit as part of efforts to restore relations. Washington and Seoul are due to hold a joint military drill later in August. The two Koreas, still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a ceasefire, on Tuesday reconnected hotlines the North severed in June last year.

“This is an undesirable prelude which seriously undermines the will of North and the South wishing to see a step taken toward restoring mutual trust,” she said. — Reuters