March 16 (UPI) -- North Korean official Kim Yo Jong addressed the U.S. administration of President Joe Biden for the first time on Tuesday in a statement that included condemnation of joint U.S.-South Korea exercises and threats to cancel inter-Korean agreements.
Kim, the younger sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said Tuesday in a statement published to KCNA the decision to carry out combined exercises on the peninsula was a "foolish choice." The exercises are "drills for an invasion" that "crosses a red line," Kim said.
Kim, deputy director of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers' Party, also said she had a "word of advice for the new U.S. administration."
"If it is your wish to sleep well for the next four years, it would be best to not create problems from the start that will make you lose sleep," Kim said.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in did not issue a response to Kim on Tuesday.
Seoul's military addressed the North's statement. Defense Minister Suh Wook said before Seoul's parliamentary national defense committee Kim's remarks are "regrettable." Suh said the ongoing exercises with the United States are for defense purposes, News 1 reported.
Kim also raised the issue of inter-Korean cooperation at Mount Kumgang resort in her statement.
"There is no need for any cooperation or exchange with South Korean authorities, who treat us as enemies," the North Korean official said, referring to unilateral plans to shutter North Korea's Kumgangsan International Tourism Bureau.
North Korea could be looking to dissolve its Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, according to Kim's statement. The Committee is an entity dealing with inter-Korean issues that was founded in 1961.
Yang Moo-jin, a South Korean analyst at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told Newsis Kim's message is more of a warning than a notice of action.
Last year, Kim warned of destruction before the detonation of the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong.