North Korea says not interested in Iran-like nuclear talks with US
The North’s preparatory group for a joint anniversary proposed to its South Korean counterpart on Monday that the two sides meet in the North’s border city of Kaesong on Thursday to discuss preparations for a joint anniversary event on Liberation Day, which falls on August 15.
“Nuclear deterrence…is not a plaything to be put on the negotiating table”, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
North Korea has repeatedly defied United Nations Security Council resolutions banning the country from conducting tests using ballistic missile technology.
Kirby also said the USA has no plans to hold bilateral talks with the North and does not accept the communist nation as a nuclear state.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said the onus is on North Korea.
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul couldn’t immediately comment on the latest statement from North Korea.
Chinese intelligence sources this winter briefed American officials that Pyongyang now has as many as 20 nuclear devices.
The United States and five world powers have struck a historic deal with Iran that will limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for sanctions relief. There was no immediate comment on the report from South Korea’s defense ministry.
The country dispelled rumors that Iran’s nuclear negotiations would inspire North Korea to do the same, as North Korean ally China has suggested.
Will Tehran stop aiding Pyongyang?
North Korea’s insistence that it is unlike Iran came after a State Department official said that after the Iran deal “perhaps might give North Korea second thoughts about the very risky path that it is now pursuing”.
So far Pyongyang has kept its silence.
With 100% of participants approving the candidates, the word “landslide” hardly seems sufficient.
North Korea has intensified its crackdown on foreign-made products since last November when Kim Jong Un declared at a cabinet meeting that the “preference for imports could lead to national ruin”.
The UPI news agency reported this week that the population of North Korea is “stirred up” in anticipation of the vote, and that voters have been asked by the government to increase their “revolutionary vigilance”.