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Kim Yo-jong, Director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea. / Yonhap

North Korean Workers' Party Director Kim Yo-jong issued an urgent statement late at night on the 19th, dismissing President Trump's order to scale back the "Ulchi Freedom Shield" (UFS) exercise as "not worth commenting on and of no interest to us whatsoever."

Kim said, "Reducing the scale or duration of the exercise doesn't change the fundamentally provocative and aggressive nature of the military exercise," adding, "Rather than the reduction or shortening of a single exercise, we're more focused on the reality that joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea have continued without interruption and remain ongoing to this day."

She went on to cite and criticize the joint exercises South Korea and the U.S. conducted in the first half of this year one by one, including "Ssangyong" (Twin Dragon), "Freedom Shield," and "Freedom Flag."

Kim stressed, "The exercise process being scaled back this time is more than fully compensated for by the joint exercises already carried out before it," adding, "We see this clearly for what it is — an unmistakable expression of hostility toward North Korea."

Regarding recent speculation about communication between the North Korean and U.S. leaders, Kim drew a clear line, saying, "This is something I know absolutely nothing about," adding, "It's perhaps the one matter related to our supreme leadership's foreign policy that I'm not aware of."

Still, she reaffirmed that Kim Jong-un and Trump maintain good personal rapport. However, separate from that personal relationship between the two leaders, she noted that the U.S.'s hostile policy toward North Korea remains unchanged, stressing, "The sovereign measures we take to check forces that threaten our national security are entirely reasonable, well-targeted, and essential."

Notably, this message toward the U.S. was placed at the bottom of a statement titled "Position on Major International Issues" that Kim released that day — interpreted as a signal that North Korea is not preoccupied with pursuing contact with the U.S.

At the top of the statement, Kim touted the North Korea-Russia alliance, defended Russia, and placed blame for the cause and responsibility of the Russia-Ukraine war on Western countries and the U.S.

Regarding claims by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that North Korea plans to send additional troops, Kim dismissed the allegation as "groundless."

On Japan's military buildup, she said North Korea is "closely watching it as a potential, forward-looking threat," warning that "if Japan attempts to make the wrong choice, it will immediately face an unsurvivable, annihilating strike."

                                                                                                          Mok Yong-jae