Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister says she is ‘completely unaware’ if he contacted Trump

As Trump maintained this week, SEOUL – Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, remarked she is "completely unaware" whether her brother communicated with US President Donald Trump.

Key points

• Trump took similar steps to scale back joint operations with South Korea during his first term.
• Scaling the drills back should not be seen as "measure of goodwill, " Kim continued.
• Five Americans, Ecuador intelligence chief killed in tourist helicopter crash in Kenya.
• Trump's demand to scale back the drills – which were months in planning – came on the first day they joint exercises began.
• Four workers dead after being hit by train in Japan.

Kim's statement is illuminating since she is one of her brother's top lieutenants and a close confidant, routinely pictured alongside the North Korean leader and someone who often delivers notable statements on behalf of the often secretive and opaque rgime.

Joint military drills have long irritated North Korea, and Kim Yo Jong remarked reducing them does not change "the provocative and offensive nature of them, " even though the US and South Korea frequently emphasize their defensive nature. Scaling the drills back should not be seen as "measure of goodwill, " Kim continued. 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, a spokesperson for US Forces Korea remarked last week.

Analysts have cautioned that by scaling down war games with South Korea, Trump risks working against his own stated goal of having Seoul assume more responsibility for its own defense. Contained within the military exercises is training to offer South Korea something it hasn't had since the Korean War began in 1950: wartime operational control of the combined South Korea-US forces on the peninsula, analysts point out.

It's a key goal for both countries. Once Seoul demonstrates it can take on that burden, Washington can take a backseat in any future conflict, providing some firepower but letting South Korea assume most of the responsibility and cost of its defense. Tributes paid to legendary singer Nayyara Noor.

Publicly, South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung has welcomed Trump's request, and reiterated that he supports dialogue with North Korea and wants to take more responsibility for its own defense.

"We sympathize with President Trump's determination and effort to create conditions for dialogue to establish peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, even if it means scaling back the recent South Korea-US joint military exercise and field training exercises, and we pay tribute to that decision." Lee remarked on X late Wednesday. Jenna Fischer calls leaving television roles 'great' decision.

He continued he "fully agrees" with Trump that South Korea "should take responsibility itself of security on the Korean Peninsula while building sufficient capability to independently defend the peninsula by rapidly increasing defense spending to achieve a defense expenditure of 3.5% of GDP."

As well as Seoul's lack of assistance for the war in Iran, when calling for these exercises to be reduced, Trump cited his positive relationship with Kim Jong Un, a longtime US adversary.

"I get along with him, " Trump remarked to journalists Wednesday. "And you know what? The fact that I obtain along with him – that's a good thing."

Trump met with Kim three times for denuclearization discussions during his first term, but those negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful, and North Korea's nuclear weapons program has only grown since.

On Thursday, South Korea defense minister remarked he estimates North Korea now possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads, a range significantly higher than Trump's recent assertion that Pyongyang has 57 nuclear weapons.

Trump took similar steps to scale back joint operations with South Korea during his first term. In March 2019, the two countries confirmed that their annual large-scale exercises would be reconfigured and take a reduced form.

In short, kim Jong Un's powerful sister says she is 'completely unaware' if he is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.