The US has denied claims by North Korea that Donald Trump ’s administration is using “gangster-like diplomacy” tactics. Leader Kim Jong-un issued a…
The US has denied claims by North Korea that Donald Trump ’s administration is using “gangster-like diplomacy” tactics.
Leader Kim Jong-un issued a statement through state-run Korean Central News Agency which said the talks with Mike Pompeo, US secretary, were also “regrettable”.
North Korean officials accused the US of unreasonable demands on CVID – the “ complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation” of the hermit state.
“We had expected that the US side would offer constructive measures that would help build trust based on the spirit of the leaders’ summit… we were also thinking about providing reciprocal measures. Our expectations and hopes were so naive it could be called foolish,” read the statement from an unnamed foreign ministry spokesperson.
“The US is fatally mistaken if it went to the extent of regarding that [North Korea] would be compelled to accept, out of its patience, demands reflecting its gangster-like mindset,” it added.
“If those requests were gangster-like, the world is a gangster,” Mr Pompeo said after the meetings concluded, noting that the US is not the first country to make such demands of Pyongyang and that the sanctions were agreed to by several members of the United Nations.
“When we spoke to them about denuclearisation, they did not push back,” he added.
North Korea, however, thought his tone was “very concerning” because it has led to a “dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearisation that had been firm”.
“The road ahead will be difficult and challenging and we know that critics will try to minimise the work that we’ve achieved,” Mr Pompeo said as he was returning to the US.
