Cheong Wa Dae said Friday that "disparaging remarks about our government and the president do not help build mutual trust," responding to a statement by Kim Yo-jong, director of the Korean Workers' Party's General Affairs Department.
A Cheong Wa Dae official said in a notice that day that "the government will continue close coordination with the United States as a party to peace on the Korean Peninsula, and will actively work as a pacemaker to restart North Korea-US dialogue."
The official also said the government "will consistently pursue a policy of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula based on mutual respect," and urged the North to "stop unnecessary criticism and move forward together toward peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula."
Earlier, Kim issued a critical statement Thursday night over the scaling back of joint South Korea-US military exercises at the direction of US President Donald Trump. She also took aim at the South Korean president for expressing "respect" toward Trump for ordering the reduction, accusing him of "flattering with embarrassing words" while simultaneously invoking "self-reliant defense" and "independent military capability."
Kim went on to say that "Lee Jae-myung's double-faced conduct — saying one thing inside and another outside — reflects South Korea's anxious and contradictory psychology."
moone@heraldcorp.com
