North Korea says there is no need to sit down with the United States for talks

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea does not feel the need for talks with the United States, which would be “nothing more than a political tool” for Washington, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Saturday before an envoy visited. American to South Korea.

Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said the negotiations would not work between Washington and Pyongyang and that there will be no change in North Korea’s policy.

“We do not feel the need to sit face to face with the US, as it does not view the DPRK-US dialogue. As nothing more than a tool to deal with its political crisis,” Choe said in a statement issued by the state KCNA. news agency.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the formal name for North Korea.

US Assistant Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will visit South Korea next week to discuss stalled talks with North Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday that United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un should meet again before the US election in November, which it would help resume the stalled nuclear negotiations.

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton told reporters in New York on Thursday that the president could seek another summit with Kim as a “surprise October” ahead of the election.

Trump and Kim Jong Un first met in 2018 in Singapore.

They met again in Vietnam in 2019, but the talks fell apart when Trump said Kim had not offered enough nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles in exchange for lifting international sanctions.

At their third meeting, in June 2019 in the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas, the two agreed to restart negotiations. Work-level talks between the two sides in Sweden in October were interrupted.