19 Nov
North Korea has urged the United States to completely stop joint military exercises with South Korea.
Vice chairman of the North Korea's Workers' Party, Kim Yong Chol, issued a statement early Tuesday in response to an announcement by US Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
Esper said on Sunday that joint military drills with South Korea have been postponed to support diplomatic efforts to denuclearize the North.
Reacting sharply to the announcement, Kim, who is known as a close aide to leader Kim Jong Un, said that the US should not even dream of denuclearization talks before it ends its hostile policy against Pyongyang.
He said that what North Korea is demanding from the US is that it withdraw from military drills with the South or completely stop them.
He criticized the US for saying condescendingly that it postponed the exercises out of consideration, or as a concession.
North Korea is stepping up its rhetoric after its officials urged their US counterparts in last month's working-level talks to come up with a new decision by the end of the year.
nhk
