North Korea Rejects South Korea as Diplomatic Partner Amid Military Drills

North Korea has officially rejected South Korea as a diplomatic counterpart, with senior regime official Kim Yo-jong issuing a blistering statement against newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. The announcement marks a new low in inter-Korean relations, coming amid rising military tensions on the peninsula.
Kim accused Seoul of “decades of hostility” and dismissed President Lee’s offer of goodwill initiatives as “delusion and a pipe dream.”

“South Korea cannot be regarded as a diplomatic partner,” Kim said, calling Lee’s outreach “insincere and historically blind.”

The comments coincide with the launch of the Ulchi Freedom Shield, an annual joint military drill between South Korea and the United States, which Pyongyang has condemned as “a rehearsal for invasion.”
Kim also named several South Korean cabinet ministers in her critique, accusing them of aggressive rhetoric and reinforcing the North’s perception of Seoul as a hostile force. She further instructed North Korean diplomats to shift focus away from the South and instead prioritize engagements with what she called “truly strategic or adversarial nations.”
Background:
President Lee Jae-myung, elected earlier this year, has attempted to adopt a balanced approach to Pyongyang combining pressure with offers of humanitarian cooperation. However, his efforts have largely been met with silence or rejection.
This latest rebuke from Pyongyang underscores a continued shift in North Korea’s foreign policy posture, favoring a more confrontational tone with the South while strengthening ties with Russia and China.
The North has recently resumed missile launches and weapons testing, and is reportedly expanding military cooperation with Moscow in defiance of U.N. sanctions.