North Korea says no more nuclear talks unless US changes stance

Seoul, May 24: North Korea said on Friday its deadlocked nuclear talks with Washington "will never be resumed" unless the US adopts a new approach, again blaming it for the collapse of the Hanoi summit in February.

US President Donald Trump's second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un broke up without an agreement or even a joint statement as the two failed to reach a deal on sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up of its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic programmes.

According to reports Trump gave Kim a written list of demands and Pyongyang has since accused Washington of acting in "bad faith", giving it until the end of this year to change its approach.

The North's statement on Friday, released by its official news agency KCNA, reiterated its stance.

The "underlying cause" of the "setback" in Hanoi was "the arbitrary and dishonest position taken by the United States", it quoted a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson as saying.

The US had insisted on "a method which is totally impossible to get through", it said.

Unless Washington "comes forward with a new method of calculation", it said, "the DPRK-US dialogue will never be resumed and by extension, the prospect for resolving the nuclear issue will be much gloomy".

KCNA refrained from criticising Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or National Security Adviser John Bolton by name.

The report came about a week after Pyongyang had demanded the United Nations take "urgent measures" to help return a cargo ship seized by the US for alleged sanctions violations, calling the move a "heinous" act.

Pyongyang's foreign ministry also denounced it as an "outright denial" of the spirit of the Singapore summit Trump and Kim held last year.

Earlier this month the North also sought to raise the pressure by launching several short-range missiles, its first such tests for more than a year.

"And the further its mistrust and hostile acts towards the DPRK grow, the fiercer our reaction will be," KCNA said.

PTI