UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Calling for more trust, North Korea’s foreign minister urged the United States on Saturday to keep moving past what he…
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Calling for more trust, North Korea’s foreign minister urged the United States on Saturday to keep moving past what he called seven decades of entrenched hostility if Washington wants to restart stalled negotiations meant to rid Pyongyang of its nuclear bombs.
Boiling the rivals‘ diplomatic standoff down to the North’s deepening feeling of mistrust, Ri Yong Ho sought to lay out a vision of peace on the troubled Korean Peninsula — provided the North gets what it wants from the United States.
Ri, standing at a podium at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said North Korea is ready to implement the points that his leader, Kim Jong Un, and U. S. President Donald Trump agreed to in June during a summit in Singapore.
But his comments were infused with what came across as impatience at the slow pace of progress in a process the world hopes will cause Pyongyang to abandon an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that aims to accurately target the entire U. S. mainland.
In recent weeks, Kim Jong Un has said he would permanently dismantle North Korea’s main nuclear complex, but only if the United States takes unspecified corresponding measures. Kim has also promised to accept international inspectors to monitor the closing of a key missile test site and launch pad.
The North, however, doesn’t „see any corresponding response“ from Washington. On the contrary, Ri said, the United States is increasing pressure and sanctions.
„The perception that sanctions can bring us on our knees is a pipe dream of the people who are ignorant of us,“ Ri said, adding that the continued sanctions are „deepening our mistrust“ and deadlocking the current diplomacy.
