North Korea made threats to resume nuclear and long-range missile tests, saying that there’s a “limit to the patience of the DPRK.”
Just days ago, North Korean representatives met with U.S. officials in Sweden, and both parties referred to the outcome of the meeting differently.
North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Myong Gil said that “The negotiations have not fulfilled our expectation and finally broke off.”
“The U.S. raised expectations by offering suggestions like a flexible approach, new method and creative solutions, but they have disappointed us greatly and dampened our enthusiasm for negotiation by bringing nothing to the negotiation table,” she added.
However, a U.S. Department of State press release, said that the previously mentioned comments by the North Korean delegation “do not reflect the content or the spirit of today’s 8 1/2 hour discussion,” adding that “The U.S. brought creative ideas and had good discussions with its DPRK counterparts.”
The North Korean statement also said that there was “no justifiable reason” for the U.N. Security Council to be involved with an issue that is about North Korea’s self-defense and added that the European countries had “acted at the instigation of the U.S.”
“The reality urges the DPRK to reconsider crucial preemptive measures taken by it for the building confidence in the U.S.,” the statement also said.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The meeting on the outskirts of Stockholm that ocurred days ago, on Oct. 5 was the first working-level formal session to take place after the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un at the inter-Korean border zone about 4 months ago.
After the discussion, the Department of State said that the United States proposed to accept the Swedish hosts’ invitation to go back to their capital in order to further the discussions over the agreements and solve relevant problems.
The meeting came about days after North Korea had tested a ballistic missile modeled for submarine launch, an aggressive gesture that Washington had to take note of.
A State Department spokeswoman called on Pyongyang to “refrain from provocations” and remain committed to the nuclear negotiations.
South Korea’s military said it had detected the launch of one missile that flew 280 miles and reached an altitude of 565 miles. It was likely a Pukguksong-class weapon, as the North’s earlier submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) under development were known.
on July 25, 2019. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
Reuters contributed to this report.
