North Korea on Monday accused Washington of pursuing a “hostile policy”, despite recent signals of rapprochement from U.S. President Donald Trump, who previously said he plans to meet this year with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“There will be no change in our policy toward the United States, and we will continue to respond with the toughest possible stance against their unchanged hostile policy”, a spokesperson for North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried by the state‑run KCNA news agency.
Pyongyang criticized last Wednesday’s confirmation by U.S. officials of Washington’s commitment to the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula. The statement also described nuclear weapons as an “absolute guarantee of protecting” North Korea’s sovereignty and asserted that the country’s current status, enshrined in its supreme law, “will not be weakened or diluted” by repeated U.S. statements on denuclearization.
Joint military drills and missile tests
Pyongyang also opposed the recent announcement of the four‑day Freedom Edge military drills involving Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, set to begin next Monday.
Trump this month ordered a reduction in the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) drills—one of the two main annual exercises between Seoul and Washington—in an attempt to revive dialogue with Pyongyang. He later said he had “very positive” contacts with Kim Jong Un, with whom he seeks to meet this year. However, Pyongyang conducted missile tests concurrently with the scaled‑down UFS drills.
For her part, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, said the reduction in UFS does not change the hostile nature of the drills. She also said she was unaware of any recent contacts between Kim and Trump.
According to Clarín
