Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said she is “completely unaware” whether her brother communicated with U.S. President Donald Trump, as Trump claimed this week. Kim, one of North Korea’s top officials, acknowledged that her brother has a “great relationship” with Trump and “personally has good memories and feelings” for him. But in a statement released on state media Wednesday, she stopped short of confirming Trump’s claim of recent contact. Trump told reporters Monday that Kim Jong Un had responded to his request for a conversation, shortly after the president called for reducing joint military drills with South Korea, a close and long-standing U.S. ally. Trump did not elaborate on the contact. He added Wednesday that he intends to meet Kim later this year, but he didn’t offer details and would not say whether he has exchanged any letters with North Korea’s leader. In her statement, Kim Yo Jong said of the reported “communication” between Trump and her brother: “I am not aware of it at all, and perhaps it may be the only thing I do not know as regards the foreign policy of our supreme leadership.” Joint military drills have long irritated North Korea, and Kim Yo Jong said reducing them does not change “the provocative and offensive nature of them,” even though the U.S. and South Korea frequently emphasize their defensive nature. Scaling the drills back should not be seen as “measure of goodwill,” Kim added. The annual joint exercises are usually scheduled to run for 10 days, but this year’s will last only five, at Washington’s request. They are designed to adapt to North Korea’s evolving capabilities and incorporate training to counter drones, GPS disruption and cyberattacks, Reuters reported last week, citing a joint statement. When calling for these exercises to be reduced, Trump cited his positive relationship with Kim Jong Un, a longtime U.S. adversary, as well as Seoul’s lack of assistance for the war in Iran. “I get along with him,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “And you know what? The fact that I get along with him — that’s a good thing.” Trump met with Kim three times for denuclearization talks during his first term, but those talks were ultimately unsuccessful, and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has only grown since. Trump took similar steps to scale back joint operations with South Korea during his first term. In March 2019, the two countries announced that their annual large-scale exercises would be reconfigured and take a reduced form. By Gawon Bae, Issy Ronald, CNN
