SEOUL, July 17 (Reuters) - North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Monday that the United States should avoid any "foolish act" that could put its security at risk and rejected offers of talks as a ploy, state news agency KCNA reported. "The U.S. should stop its foolish act of provoking the DPRK even by imperilling its security," Kim said in a statement carried by KCNA. She criticised U.S. plans for a nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine to visit South Korea and said that such efforts to increase "extended deterrence" would only push Pyongyang further from the negotiating table. Kim, a powerful ruling party official, also rejected U.S. calls for unconditional talks and said that Washington was wrong if it believed North Korea's disarmament was possible. Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Angus MacSwan, David Holmes and Mike HarrisonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 17, 2023 14:53 UTC