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Kim Jong Un (archive picture): Threatened with new nuclear weapons shortly before Biden took office
Photo: - / dpa
North Korea has so far not responded to the diplomatic efforts of the new US administration under President Joe Biden.
Since mid-February, attempts have been made several times to contact the North Korean government in various ways, reports the news agencies Reuters and AP, citing a high-ranking government official.
The North Korean mission to the United Nations was also involved in the effort, according to Reuters.
"We haven't got any answers from Pyongyang yet," said the government official.
However, he did not want to speculate on how the Pyongyang silence might affect the Democratic Biden government's review of North Korea policies.
It should be completed in the coming weeks.
Foreign and Defense Ministers' upcoming trip to Asia
The exposure of the US's unsuccessful effort raises questions about how Biden will deal with mounting tensions over North Korea's nuclear arsenal and ballistic missile programs.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will travel to Japan and South Korea next week.
North Korea's nuclear weapons concern is expected to be high on the agenda of the talks.
North Korea's ruler Kim Jong Un had announced shortly before Joe Biden's inauguration a further expansion of the North Korean nuclear arsenal and described the USA as his country's greatest enemy.
Biden had named Kim Jong Un a criminal during the election campaign and declared in October that he would only meet with the ruler of North Korea if he agreed to disarm his country's nuclear arsenal in advance.
US President Biden's predecessor Donald Trump had met with Kim three times.
He had offered the North Korean the relaxation of sanctions in return for nuclear disarmament, but there was no breakthrough.
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bbr / Reuters / AP