#Biden #NKorea #talks
NKorea said Thursday it will ignore a US offer for talks unless it withdraws its hostile policy after Washington reached out to Pyongyang in a bid to resume nuclear negotiations.
The statement by Choe Son Hui, the 1st foreign minister, came before the US and SKorean foreign and defense chiefs met in Seoul for their 1st joint talks in 5 yrs to discuss NKorea’s nuclear program.
“What has been heard from the US since the emergence of the new regime is only a lunatic theory of ‘threat from North Korea’ and groundless rhetoric about ‘complete denuclearization,‘” Minister Choe said, calling the offer for talks a “time-delaying trick.”
He reiterated NKorea’s position that no “dialogue of any kind” can be possible unless the US rolls back its hostility. “Therefore, we will disregard such an attempt of the US in the future, too,” Miister Choe said.
US-led diplomacy focusing on NKorea’s nuclear weapons remains stalemated for about 2 yrs because of disputes over US-led sanctions. Experts are debating whether the United States and its allies should settle for a deal that would freeze NKorea’s nuclear activities in return for relaxing sanctions to prevent its arsenal from growing.
Earlier this wk, the powerful sister of NKorean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to abandon rapprochement with SKorea and warned the United States to “refrain from causing a stink,” while criticizing regular US-SKorean military drills her government views as an invasion rehearsal.
Minister Choe again took issue with this month’s drills, saying the United States “openly started aggression-minded joint military exercises targeting us.”
Minister Choe said US attempts to contact NKorea included e-Mails and telephone messages via various channels. She said, even on the eve of its drills with SKorea, Washington sent a message “imploring us to respond to its request through a 3rd country.”
Minister Choe said it will “only be a waste of time to sit with the US“
Have a healthy day, Keep the Faith!
