(MENAFN) A top North Korean official has again ruled out the possibility of diplomatic talks with South Korea, lashing out at what she described as Seoul’s “appeasement offensive,” media reported on Wednesday.

Kim Yo Jong, a senior figure in the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, accused the South’s new administration of dishonesty during a high-level meeting with officials from the DPRK’s Foreign Ministry.

Kim accused the Republic of Korea (ROK) of consistently harboring confrontational ambitions toward the DPRK, brushing aside Seoul’s recent gestures promoting peaceful coexistence and mutual respect.

The comments come amid the Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military drills involving South Korean and U.S. forces — exercises Pyongyang has long denounced as preparations for invasion.

Kim claimed the drills were a veiled operation aimed at neutralizing the North’s nuclear and missile arsenal. “South Korea has an ulterior motive to finally shift the responsibility for the DPRK-ROK relations failing to recover onto the DPRK,” she said, according to media.

She also rejected Seoul’s assertions that it respects the DPRK’s political system and does not seek unification through assimilation.

“The ROK cannot be a diplomatic partner of the DPRK,” Kim concluded, doubling down on Pyongyang’s hardened stance against engagement.

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