Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned the U.S. to avoid "causing a stink" if the country wants peace in a broadside as top U.S. officials from the newly-installed Biden administration hold meetings in the region.
The North Korean state-owned news agency KCNA reported Kim's warning along with her criticism of ongoing U.S. military drills in South Korea Tuesday.
Kim's warning comes just a day before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are set to arrive in South Korea to engage in talks with their counterparts.
The talks will be the first held under the Biden administration. The two U.S. officials are also set to visit other Asian countries to discuss security and foreign policies throughout the rest of the week.
"We take this opportunity to warn the new U.S. administration trying hard to give off powder smell in our land. If it wants to sleep in peace for [the] coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step," Kim said in a statement as reported by KCNA.
Analysts said that the timing of Kim's warnings was designed to ensure that the U.S. officials will discuss North Korea when they meet with their South Korean counterparts.
"Until now, the discussion was focusing on The Quad, dealing with China and the North Korea policy review. Now Kim's statement will be central to discussions," experts at King's College London said.
The White House said earlier in the week that North Korea continues to rebuff its requests to engage in new talks to ease tensions. The relations between the two nations were strained at the tail end of former President Donald Trump's administration.
Kim Jong-Un had held three high-profile meetings with Trump and the two had engaged in continued talks through the mail and on the phone. However, North Korea cut communications with the U.S. not long after, demanding that the country drop its hostile policies.
Last week, the U.S. had conducted a joint springtime military drill with South Korean troops. Officials said that the military drills were only limited to computer simulations given the continued risks involved due to the pandemic.
