THE Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday slammed the ongoing military exercises jointly held by South Korea and the United States, and warned of possible retaliation, the official Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday.

As “the South Korean authorities persist in hostile acts of denying dialogue and completely destroy the foundation of trust through ceaseless war games, we cannot but put on the agenda the issue of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, an organization for dialogue with the south which has no reason for its existence,” said Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, in a statement.

“We also examine the issue of dissolving the Kumgangsan International Tourism Bureau and other organizations concerned,” she said.

“We will watch the future attitude and actions of the South Korean authorities,” she said, adding “if they dare resort to more provocative acts, we may take a special measure of resolutely abrogating even the north-south military agreement.”

South Korea and the United States started their annual springtime military drills on March 8, which will last till Thursday. This year’s military drills were much reduced in size due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kim accused South Korea of making excuses about the reduced size and changed format of the annual drills, according to the news agency.

She also warned the new U.S. administration against any provocative acts, saying “if it wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step.”

The White House confirmed Monday that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has recently reached out to the DPRK but has not yet received a response from Pyongyang.

“I can confirm that we have reached out,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during the daily news briefing when asked by reporters about the matter, adding that the United States maintains a series of channels through which it is able to communicate with the DPRK.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Tokyo on Monday, kicking off a two-leg tour to Northeast Asia that will later bring them to Seoul.

Sung Kim, acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told reporters last week that Blinken would discuss the DPRK nuclear issue with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts during the ongoing trip.

(Xinhua)