North Korea’s foreign minister rejected President Trump’s assertion that North Korea wanted all U.S. nuclear sanctions eliminated as part of a deal the two sides failed to reach this week, and said his country was only looking for relief from some sanctions.
During a midnight news conference in Hanoi, Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said the North Koreans “offered a realistic proposal” to the U.S. that included partial sanctions relief in exchange for the dismantling of various nuclear material production sites.
“If the United States removes partial sanctions, mainly removes the articles of sanctions that hamper the civilian economy and the livelihood of our people in particular, we will permanently and completely dismantle all the nuclear material production facilities in the Yongbyon area, including plutonium and uranium in the presence of U.S. experts,” Ri said through a translator.
The remarks come after the second summit between Trump and Kim was cut short after the two sides failed to reach a deal due to an impasse over sanctions. Trump told reporters before departing Hanoi that North Korea wanted all sanctions removed in exchange for the denuclearization of Yongbyon, which the U.S. could not agree to.
[Read more: Trump: No urgency to secure denuclearization deal with North Korea]
“Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times,” the president said.
Trump said the North Koreans were “willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted.”
“But we couldn’t give up all of the sanctions for that,” he added.
Ri, however, said that during the meetings in Hanoi, the U.S. “insisted that we should take one more step besides the dismantling of nuclear facilities” at Yongbyon.
“Therefore, it became crystal clear that the United States was not ready to accept our proposal,” he said.
Ri indicated further negotiations may be futile, even though the White House suggested discussions would likely continue.
“It is difficult to say whether there might be a better agreement than our proposal,” he said.
