The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday slammed U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for seeking international pressure against Pyongyang and threatened to withdraw from further negotiations between the two sides.
The Foreign Ministry's new department director general for negotiations with the United States, said in a statement -- without providing his name -- that his country would chart its own course amid stalled talks over its nuclear program.
In the statement, which was carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the official accused Pompeo of encouraging other countries to continue to apply diplomatic and economic pressure against Pyongyang during a press conference last week following a video conference by the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently "sent our leadership his personal letter carrying a sincere aid plan" to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas Pompeo criticized the DPRK, thereby countering the U.S. president, according to the statement.
The foreign ministry official went on to say "the initiative for dialogue that the U.S. has proposed to earn time and create an environment favorable for its president was seriously damaged," and Pompeo's words "led us to lose will for dialogue."
"However great and strong the friendly relationship between the leaders of the two nations, it cannot change the U.S.' hostile policy against us," and a resumption of dialogue which has been much touted by the U.S. side "is nothing but a decoy to keep us from going our own way," the statement added.
The official also said Pyongyang has lost interest in holding dialogue with Washington, and has become more zealous for projects "aimed to repay the U.S. with actual horror and unrest for the sufferings it has inflicted upon our people."
Talks on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula between the DPRK and the United States have been stalled after the Hanoi Summit between their leaders held February 2019 failed to reach an agreement.
