North Korea not picking up hotlines after warning South, U.S. over joint drills


FILE PHOTO: A North Korea flag flutters next to concertina wire at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea did not answer routine calls on inter-Korean hotlines on Tuesday, South Korea said, hours after a senior official in Pyongyang warned Seoul and Washington over annual joint military drills set to begin this week.

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused South Korea of "perfidious behaviour" for going ahead with the drills after North Korea agreed to restore the hotlines in late July, having cut them last year amid rising tensions.

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