Pyongyang " does not feel the need " to resume talks with Washington, said a high-ranking North Korean diplomat, days after Seoul's call for a new summit to improve relations with its neighbor North.
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South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who played a crucial role in promoting detente with the North, called on June 30 for a new summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, claiming that Seoul would do " everything possible " to achieve it.
But Pyongyang " does not feel the need to sit facing the United States, " replied the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea, Choe Son Hui, in a statement released by the North Korean agency KCNA. " The United States is mistaken if it considers that things like negotiations are still working on us, " she added. Washington " sees the dialogue between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) only as an instrument in its political crisis ," she added, using the official name of North Korea.
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The North has already drawn up a " detailed strategy timetable " to deal with the " long-term threat " from Washington, the high-ranking diplomat stressed in the press release. North Korean denuclearization negotiations have stalled since the fiasco of the second summit between Kim and Trump in February 2019 in Hanoi.
According to media reports, Stephen Biegun, the number two in American diplomacy, is expected next week in Seoul to discuss talks with the North. The South Korean foreign ministry, however, did not confirm the visit.
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In late June, the US, through the voice of Biegun, who is also the US envoy for North Korea, had considered " unlikely " a top or even a simple virtual contact between Trump and Kim before the presidential November 3. However, he assured that the door remained " open to diplomacy ".
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The North Korean regime stepped up verbal attacks on Seoul in June, notably criticizing the fact that North Korean dissidents based in the South are sending propaganda leaflets to the North using wind-blown balloons.