A top North Korean diplomat has acknowledged the recent United States initiative of reaching out to Pyongyang and the U.S.-North Korea relations on Thursday. However, the U.S. attempt was blasted by North Korea and considered a 'cheap trick' that would never be answered until Washington will drop hostile policies.
North Korea calls US contact attempt a 'cheap trick'
The statement from the first vice minister of foreign affairs for North Korea, Choe Son Hui, was the first formal rejection of Pyongyang regarding the tentative approaches by the new U.S. administration under President Joe Biden. Biden started his office in January after winning the November 2020 Presidential Election.
According to Reuters, the first formal rejection came after U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited South Korea. The visit was the first overseas trip by top-level members of the administration of Biden.
Moreover, the first vice minister of foreign affairs for North Korea shared in a statement that state news agency KCNA carried, that the attempts made by the U.S. in contacting Pyongyang were via e-mails and telephone messages sent in various routes, including a third country. Son Hui called the U.S. attempts a 'cheap trick' to gain time and build up the public's opinion.
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Son Hui also shared that what has been heard from the U.S. since the start of the new administration is the only lunatic theory of 'threat from North Korea.' The North Korean official added that they were just rhetoric with no grounds, referring to the total denuclearization. Earlier this month, the White House said that it had reached out to Pyongyang; however, they did not receive any response and did not elaborate on the attempted contact.
The top-level members of Biden's administration, Blinken and Austin, will be extending their stay in South Korea as they will still have meetings with South Korean leaders on Thursday before flying to Alaska for the first talks of the Biden administration with Chinese officials. The North Korea standoff is expected to be discussed during the U.S.-China meeting in Alaska, The Strait Times reported.
The U.S.-initiated talks with other countries aim to reduce the tensions with North Korea as they continue to persuade Pyongyang to give up its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, which have been stalled since 2019, after numerous historic summits between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
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The first vice minister of foreign affairs for North Korea also criticized the U.S. for their continued military drills in the South and for maintaining sanctions aimed at putting pressure on Pyongyang. She also emphasized that no possible dialogue will happen until the United States roll back its hostile policy towards North Korea, and both parties will be able to exchange words on an equal basis, Global Times reported.
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