North Korea vows to ignore US attempts to establish contact

Despite two high-profile summits, little progress was made on the issue of reducing or dismantling the disputed North Korean nuclear arsenal.

Seoul: A top North Korean official has vowed to ignore the US’ attempts to establish contact until Washington has met Pyongyang’s conditions, state media reported on Thursday.

“We don’t think there is need to respond to the US delaying-time trick again,” North Korea’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui was cited as saying in a report issued by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

---

She accused Washington of adopting hostile policies and using “cheap tricks”, dpa news reported citing KCNA.

Choe said no contact or dialogue of any kind was possible unless the US rolls back what she called its “hostile policy” towards North Korea.

“In order for a dialogue to be held, an atmosphere for both parties to exchange words on an equal basis must be created,” she said, adding that Pyongyang would also disregard future Washington attempts to take up contact.

With Choe’s statement, North Korea confirmed for the first time that the administration of President Joe Biden has been trying to get in touch.

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had announced that efforts in this direction had so far been unsuccessful.

The goal is to rely on diplomacy and reduce the “risk of escalation”, it said.

But the following day, Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, threatened to scrap a peace agreement with South Korea as she slammed Seoul for conducting military exercises with the US.

She also warned the new US administration against any provocative acts, saying “if it wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step”.

Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, had initiated talks with Kim Jong-un about Pyongyang’s nuclear programme and also met him personally.

Despite two high-profile summits, little progress was made on the issue of reducing or dismantling the disputed North Korean nuclear arsenal.