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North Korea warns US of ‘Christmas gift’ as its deadline to save denuclearisation talks looms
- Senior diplomat Ri Thae-song says US diplomacy has been a ‘foolish trick’ that does not offer North Korea its desired sanctions relief
- Talks held in Sweden in October broke down over what the North Koreans described as ‘old stance and attitude’ held by US
2-MIN READ2-MIN
North Korea on Tuesday repeated its assertions the Trump administration is running out of time to salvage nuclear negotiations, saying it’s entirely up to the US to choose what “Christmas gift” it gets from the North.
The statement attributed to a senior diplomat came as North Korea continues to dial up pressure on Washington and Seoul ahead of leader Kim Jong-un’s end-of-year deadline for the US to offer mutually acceptable terms for a deal.
Negotiations have faltered since a February summit between Kim and President Donald Trump broke down after the US rejected North Korean demands for broad sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.
Working-level talks held in Sweden in October broke down over what the North Koreans described as the Americans’ “old stance and attitude”.
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Ri Thae-song, a vice foreign minister handling US affairs, accused Washington of repeating talk offers aimed at buying time without offering real solutions. Ri reiterated earlier North Korean statements that the country has no intentions to continue the nuclear diplomacy unless it gets something substantial in return.
“The dialogue touted by the US is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the DPRK bound to dialogue and use it in favour of the political situation and election in the US,” he said, referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “What is left to be done now is the US option and it is entirely up to the US what Christmas gift it will select to get.”
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