A senior official of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sunday warned the Republic of Korea (ROK) against carrying out a planned military exercise with the United States later this month, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. 

If the joint drill goes ahead, it will damage the resolve of Pyongyang and Seoul to rebuild relations, said Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the younger sister of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un. 

Kim Yo Jong also said a recent decision to restore hotlines between the DPRK and the ROK should not be seen as anything more than reconnecting "physical" ties, and that it would be "thoughtless" to assume that summits are around the corner. 

Her comments came at a time when Pyongyang and Seoul are in talks to hold a summit as part of efforts to restore relations.

"I surely see the military drill, which takes place at an important turning point like this, will become an unpleasant prelude to seriously hurting the will of the leaders of the North and South seeking to take the step toward rebuilding trust again and further clouding the path lying ahead for inter-Korean relations," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by KCNA. 

"Our government and military will closely watch whether South Korea (the ROK) will carry out their hostile war exercise once again or make a bold decision," she added. "Hope or despair? The decision is not upon us." 

The DPRK and the ROK on Tuesday reconnected hotlines that Pyongyang severed in June last year. The two sides held their daily liaison phone call on Wednesday after a nearly 14-month suspension.

The U.S. and the ROK are expected to hold the annual summertime joint military exercise in August, though Seoul's Defense Ministry earlier said that the two countries were discussing when and how to stage the exercise. 

(With input from Reuters)