South Korean President Moon Jae-in (R) and Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) exchange their joint declaration, titled the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, at Peace House on the South Korean side of Panmunjom, on April 27, 2018. (Xinhua/Inter-Korean Summit Press Corps)
PYONGYANG/WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- In view of the recently provocative acts such as the Republic of Korea (ROK)-U.S. joint military drills, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has no choice but to suspend high-level talks with the ROK planned for Wednesday, the official KCNA said on Wednesday.
The state media also said the United States should think twice about the fate of the planned DPRK-U.S. summit.
Shortly after the report, the U.S. State Department said it was continuing to plan for the summit between President Donald Trump and the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.
The United States has not heard anything directly from Pyongyang or Seoul that would change the arrangements, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a briefing in Washington.
The KCNA said that the "2018 Max Thunder" joint air combat exercise involves over 100 warplanes including "B-52" strategic bomber and "F-22 Raptor" stealth fighter, and is aimed at launching pre-emptive strikes against the DPRK as well as taking control of the airspace.
The exercise, which runs from May 11 till May 25, is a "blatant challenge to the Panmunjom Declaration and an intentional military provocation running counter to the positive political development on the Korean Peninsula," the report said.