“A word of advice”: North Korean leader’s sister warns U.S. as Biden envoys begin Asia trip

In North Korea’s first comments directed at the Biden administration, Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister criticised the United States and South Korea for holding military exercises and warned the U.S. against further provocations if it wants a “good night’s sleep for the next four years.”

Kim Yo Jong’s statement on Tuesday was issued as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Asia to talk to U.S. allies Japan and South Korea about North Korea and other regional issues. They have meetings in Tokyo on Tuesday before speaking to officials in Seoul the next day. North Korea would consider abandoning a 2018 bilateral agreement on reducing military tensions and abolish a decades-old ruling party unit tasked to handle inter-Korean relations if it no longer had to cooperate with the South, said Kim Yo Jong, a senior official who handles inter-Korean affairs for the North.