North Korea’s foreign minister has ruled out the possibilities of holding any talks with the United States, insisting that dialogue with Washington would ‘get us nowhere’.
His comments coming just a few after Sung Kim, the top US envoy in charge of North Korea negotiations, visited South Korea this week in a bid to restart diplomacy with the nuclear-armed nation.
But US hopes for a revival of talks were rebuffed by influential official Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korea’s leader, hinting that Washington had ‘wrong’ expectations for dialogue.
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Foreign minister Ri Son Gwon said Wednesday he welcomed Kim’s rejection of the ‘hasty judgment, conjecture and expectation of the US’.
‘We are not considering even the possibility of any contact with the US, let alone having it, which would get us nowhere, only taking up precious time,’ he was quoted as saying.
Africa Daily News, New York understands that since US President Joe Biden’s election win, the two countries have adopted a wait-and-see attitude to relations — in marked contrast to the diplomatic roller-coaster ride under Donald Trump that produced historic meetings with leader Kim Jong Un but no agreement on dismantling the North’s nuclear arsenal.
The White House promised a ‘practical, calibrated approach‘ — including diplomatic efforts — in a recent review of its strategy to persuade the impoverished North to give up its nuclear and missile programme.
Talks between Washington and Pyongyang have long been stalled over the international sanctions imposed on the nuclear-armed state and what the North should give up in return for their lifting.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
