North Korea tells new U.S. administration to cease war games if wants to 'sleep in peace'

FILE PHOTO: Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attends wreath laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam March 2, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/Pool

SEOUL (Reuters) - The sister of North Korean leader, Kim Yo Jong, criticised ongoing military drills in South Korea and warned the new U.S. administration that the smell of cordite wafting over the border would not help bring peace, state news reported on Tuesday.

Kim's statement was the North's first public message to Washington since President Joe Biden took office in January. It was delivered a day before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are due to arrive in Seoul for their first talks with South Korean counterparts.