N.Korea dismisses South's president ahead of US summit
Since taking office in a snap election in June, the liberal Lee has taken steps to lower tensions with the nuclear-armed North, and the issue is one where he is expected to find common ground with Trump, who still boasts of his historic summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
But North Korea's envoys have yet to accept any of Trump's latest letters, and Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, has issued a steady stream of dismissive statements rejecting and ridiculing Lee's overtures.
"Lee Jae-myung is not the sort of man who will change the course of history," she told a gathering of North Korean diplomats, state news agency KCNA reported on Wednesday.
She called South Korea a "faithful dog" of Washington, accused Lee of speaking gibberish, and said his government maintained a "stinky confrontational nature ... swathed in a wrapper of peace".
Kim said the Lee administration was pursuing a two-faced policy of engagement as well as threatening joint military drills with the United States, which bases around 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Leader Kim Jong-un had ordered his diplomats to take "pre-emptive counteraction" against enemy states, the KCNA report said, without providing details.
In response to her statement, South Korea's presidential office said the administration would open a new era for joint growth with North Korea, and its recent measures were meant for the stability and prosperity of both Koreas.
South Korea and its ally the United States kicked off joint military drills this week, including testing an upgraded response to heightened North Korean nuclear threats.
Earlier this week, Kim Jong-un said the joint US-South Korea drills were an "obvious expression of their will to provoke war" and his country needed to rapidly expand its nuclear armament.
North Korea has surged ahead with more and bigger ballistic missiles, expanded its nuclear weapons facilities, and gained new support from its neighbours.
North Korea in recent years has also changed its policy toward the South, dismissing the idea of peaceful unification and called Seoul a main enemy.
Lee this week ordered his cabinet to prepare a partial step-by-step implementation of existing agreements with North Korea, and South Korea has begun removing loudspeakers that had been blaring anti-North Korea broadcasts along the border.
North Korea is stepping up criticism of South Korea's new President Lee Jae-myung as he prepares for his first summit with US President Donald Trump, calling Lee's efforts to engage with Pyongyang a "pipe dream".
Since taking office in a snap election in June, the liberal Lee has taken steps to lower tensions with the nuclear-armed North, and the issue is one where he is expected to find common ground with Trump, who still boasts of his historic summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
But North Korea's envoys have yet to accept any of Trump's latest letters, and Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, has issued a steady stream of dismissive statements rejecting and ridiculing Lee's overtures.
"Lee Jae-myung is not the sort of man who will change the course of history," she told a gathering of North Korean diplomats, state news agency KCNA reported on Wednesday.
She called South Korea a "faithful dog" of Washington, accused Lee of speaking gibberish, and said his government maintained a "stinky confrontational nature ... swathed in a wrapper of peace".
Kim said the Lee administration was pursuing a two-faced policy of engagement as well as threatening joint military drills with the United States, which bases around 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Leader Kim Jong-un had ordered his diplomats to take "pre-emptive counteraction" against enemy states, the KCNA report said, without providing details.
In response to her statement, South Korea's presidential office said the administration would open a new era for joint growth with North Korea, and its recent measures were meant for the stability and prosperity of both Koreas.
South Korea and its ally the United States kicked off joint military drills this week, including testing an upgraded response to heightened North Korean nuclear threats.
Earlier this week, Kim Jong-un said the joint US-South Korea drills were an "obvious expression of their will to provoke war" and his country needed to rapidly expand its nuclear armament.
North Korea has surged ahead with more and bigger ballistic missiles, expanded its nuclear weapons facilities, and gained new support from its neighbours.
North Korea in recent years has also changed its policy toward the South, dismissing the idea of peaceful unification and called Seoul a main enemy.
Lee this week ordered his cabinet to prepare a partial step-by-step implementation of existing agreements with North Korea, and South Korea has begun removing loudspeakers that had been blaring anti-North Korea broadcasts along the border.
North Korea is stepping up criticism of South Korea's new President Lee Jae-myung as he prepares for his first summit with US President Donald Trump, calling Lee's efforts to engage with Pyongyang a "pipe dream".
Since taking office in a snap election in June, the liberal Lee has taken steps to lower tensions with the nuclear-armed North, and the issue is one where he is expected to find common ground with Trump, who still boasts of his historic summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
But North Korea's envoys have yet to accept any of Trump's latest letters, and Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, has issued a steady stream of dismissive statements rejecting and ridiculing Lee's overtures.
"Lee Jae-myung is not the sort of man who will change the course of history," she told a gathering of North Korean diplomats, state news agency KCNA reported on Wednesday.
She called South Korea a "faithful dog" of Washington, accused Lee of speaking gibberish, and said his government maintained a "stinky confrontational nature ... swathed in a wrapper of peace".
Kim said the Lee administration was pursuing a two-faced policy of engagement as well as threatening joint military drills with the United States, which bases around 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Leader Kim Jong-un had ordered his diplomats to take "pre-emptive counteraction" against enemy states, the KCNA report said, without providing details.
In response to her statement, South Korea's presidential office said the administration would open a new era for joint growth with North Korea, and its recent measures were meant for the stability and prosperity of both Koreas.
South Korea and its ally the United States kicked off joint military drills this week, including testing an upgraded response to heightened North Korean nuclear threats.
Earlier this week, Kim Jong-un said the joint US-South Korea drills were an "obvious expression of their will to provoke war" and his country needed to rapidly expand its nuclear armament.
North Korea has surged ahead with more and bigger ballistic missiles, expanded its nuclear weapons facilities, and gained new support from its neighbours.
North Korea in recent years has also changed its policy toward the South, dismissing the idea of peaceful unification and called Seoul a main enemy.
Lee this week ordered his cabinet to prepare a partial step-by-step implementation of existing agreements with North Korea, and South Korea has begun removing loudspeakers that had been blaring anti-North Korea broadcasts along the border.
North Korea is stepping up criticism of South Korea's new President Lee Jae-myung as he prepares for his first summit with US President Donald Trump, calling Lee's efforts to engage with Pyongyang a "pipe dream".
Since taking office in a snap election in June, the liberal Lee has taken steps to lower tensions with the nuclear-armed North, and the issue is one where he is expected to find common ground with Trump, who still boasts of his historic summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
But North Korea's envoys have yet to accept any of Trump's latest letters, and Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong, has issued a steady stream of dismissive statements rejecting and ridiculing Lee's overtures.
"Lee Jae-myung is not the sort of man who will change the course of history," she told a gathering of North Korean diplomats, state news agency KCNA reported on Wednesday.
She called South Korea a "faithful dog" of Washington, accused Lee of speaking gibberish, and said his government maintained a "stinky confrontational nature ... swathed in a wrapper of peace".
Kim said the Lee administration was pursuing a two-faced policy of engagement as well as threatening joint military drills with the United States, which bases around 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Leader Kim Jong-un had ordered his diplomats to take "pre-emptive counteraction" against enemy states, the KCNA report said, without providing details.
In response to her statement, South Korea's presidential office said the administration would open a new era for joint growth with North Korea, and its recent measures were meant for the stability and prosperity of both Koreas.
South Korea and its ally the United States kicked off joint military drills this week, including testing an upgraded response to heightened North Korean nuclear threats.
Earlier this week, Kim Jong-un said the joint US-South Korea drills were an "obvious expression of their will to provoke war" and his country needed to rapidly expand its nuclear armament.
North Korea has surged ahead with more and bigger ballistic missiles, expanded its nuclear weapons facilities, and gained new support from its neighbours.
North Korea in recent years has also changed its policy toward the South, dismissing the idea of peaceful unification and called Seoul a main enemy.
Lee this week ordered his cabinet to prepare a partial step-by-step implementation of existing agreements with North Korea, and South Korea has begun removing loudspeakers that had been blaring anti-North Korea broadcasts along the border.
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