Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister Kim Yo Jong has publicly denied President Trump’s claim that he is in contact with the North Korean leader, dismissing the attempted diplomatic overture and rejecting the significance of scaled-back US-South Korea military exercises.
In a statement released through the Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong said she knows absolutely nothing about supposed communication between the two leaders, calling it the only matter she is unaware of in relation to the supreme leadership’s foreign policy.
Drills Cut Short but Still Provocative
Her remarks came as Seoul and Washington confirmed that the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, an 11-day command post drill that began Monday, would be cut short to Friday. Trump announced on Truth Social that he had instructed the Pentagon to reduce the joint drills, citing his very good relationship with Kim Jong Un.
Kim Yo Jong said North Korea has no interest in the move, noting that joint military exercises between the US and South Korea have continued and remain ongoing. She called them an unmistakable expression of hostility toward Pyongyang, adding that the provocative and aggressive nature of the drills does not change simply because scale or duration is reduced.
The statement was notably more restrained than previous North Korean denunciations. Kim Yo Jong acknowledged that the North Korean leader has good personal memories and feelings for President Trump, leaving open the possibility of future communication despite rejecting current claims of contact.
Trump Pushes for Summit
Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that Kim has responded to his overtures for dialogue. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is pressing aides to arrange one-on-one talks with Kim as early as November.
However, Kim Yo Jong also said that North Korea’s nuclear capability has sharply increased since the first round of Kim-Trump diplomacy, and that any attempt to deny North Korea as a nuclear weapons state would be rejected. She said it would be advisable to seek another way of contact.
The exchange highlights the deep distrust between Washington and Pyongyang despite Trump’s personal diplomacy efforts, which have produced two historic summits in 2018 and 2019 but no lasting agreement on denuclearization.
Sources: NK News; Korea JoongAng Daily; The New York Times; The Independent
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