The North Korean Foreign Ministry is accusing the U.S. of “unilateral” demands by expecting denuclearization of the peninsula without providing North Korea with anything in return.
According to the Associated Press, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Saturday that the Ministry called the latest round of talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “regrettable.”
The spokesperson said the outcome of follow up talks after President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spoke last month was “very concerning” and could lead to a “dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearization that had been firm.”
In a statement, the spokesperson said the U.S betrayed the spirit of the historic summit between the two leaders in Singapore by making unilateral demands for the nation to surrender its nuclear abilities.
Pompeo landed in Pyongyang Friday for two-days of diplomatic talks between a U.S. delegation he was leading and a North Korean delegation led by Kim’s brother Kim Yong Chol. This is the third time the secretary has made a visit to the DPRK.
Anthony Ruggiero, a recent hire to the WH National Security Council as North Korea director, hinted that in the event denuclearization talks stall, the Treasury Department could impose secondary sanctions on Chinese institutions, lower the boom on companies that employ North Korean forced labor, while the U.S. and regional allies “start to interdict these vessels” that smuggle goods to the regime.
“If these talks break down, the administration is going to have to start doing more aggressive implementation of sanctions and things that, in the past, they likely decided were too aggressive or too dangerous,” Ruggiero said. “And they’re going to have to move to that next level rapidly.”
