North Korea Hints at ‘New Path’ in Standoff With U.S.
GENEVA (Reuters) -- North Korea said on Tuesday the United States had ignored a deadline for nuclear talks and it no longer felt bound by its commitments, which included a halt to nuclear testing and inter-continental ballistic missile tests, and may "seek a new path”.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set a year-end deadline for denuclearization talks with the United States and White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said at the time the United States had opened channels of communication.
Ju Yong Chol, a counsellor at North Korea’s mission to the UN in Geneva, said that over the past two years, his country had halted nuclear tests and test firing of inter-continental ballistic missiles, "in order to build confidence with the United States”.
However, the U.S. had responded by conducting dozens of joint military exercises with South Korea on the divided peninsula and by imposing sanctions, he said.
"As it became clear now that the U.S. remains unchanged in its ambition to block the development of the DPRK and stifle its political system, we found no reason to be unilaterally bound any longer by the commitment that the other party fails to honor,” Ju told the UN-backed Conference on Disarmament.
Speaking as the envoy from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea’s official name, Ju accused the United States of applying "the most brutal and inhuman sanctions”.
"If the U.S. persists in such hostile policy toward the DPRK there will never be the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” he said.
"If the United States tries to enforce unilateral demands and persists in imposing sanctions, North Korea may be compelled to seek a new path.”
North Korea warned in December that it may take an unspecified "new path” if the United States failed to meet its expectations with a new approach to negotiations.
U.S. military commanders said the move could include the testing of a long-range missile, which North Korea has suspended since 2017, along with nuclear warhead tests.
"In the past two years, the DPRK took the initiative by taking crucial measures to halt nuclear tests, (halt) test firing of ICBMs and dismantle the nuclear testing ground in order to build confidence with the United States,” Ju said.
"However, far from responding with appropriate measures, the U.S. threatened DPRK militarily by conducting dozens of large- and small-scale joint military exercises (with South Korea) which the U.S. President himself promised to discontinue...”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set a year-end deadline for denuclearization talks with the United States and White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said at the time the United States had opened channels of communication.
Ju Yong Chol, a counsellor at North Korea’s mission to the UN in Geneva, said that over the past two years, his country had halted nuclear tests and test firing of inter-continental ballistic missiles, "in order to build confidence with the United States”.
However, the U.S. had responded by conducting dozens of joint military exercises with South Korea on the divided peninsula and by imposing sanctions, he said.
"As it became clear now that the U.S. remains unchanged in its ambition to block the development of the DPRK and stifle its political system, we found no reason to be unilaterally bound any longer by the commitment that the other party fails to honor,” Ju told the UN-backed Conference on Disarmament.
Speaking as the envoy from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea’s official name, Ju accused the United States of applying "the most brutal and inhuman sanctions”.
"If the U.S. persists in such hostile policy toward the DPRK there will never be the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” he said.
"If the United States tries to enforce unilateral demands and persists in imposing sanctions, North Korea may be compelled to seek a new path.”
North Korea warned in December that it may take an unspecified "new path” if the United States failed to meet its expectations with a new approach to negotiations.
U.S. military commanders said the move could include the testing of a long-range missile, which North Korea has suspended since 2017, along with nuclear warhead tests.
"In the past two years, the DPRK took the initiative by taking crucial measures to halt nuclear tests, (halt) test firing of ICBMs and dismantle the nuclear testing ground in order to build confidence with the United States,” Ju said.
"However, far from responding with appropriate measures, the U.S. threatened DPRK militarily by conducting dozens of large- and small-scale joint military exercises (with South Korea) which the U.S. President himself promised to discontinue...”