Iran press/Asia: As it has been quoted by Reuters, North Korea on Thursday chided US calls for enforcing international sanctions despite its goodwill moves and said progress on denuclearization promises could not be expected if Washington followed an “outdated acting script.”
North Korea’s foreign ministry said Pyongyang had stopped nuclear and missile tests, dismantled a nuclear test ground and returned the remains of some U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.
Yet Washington was still insisting on “denuclearization first” and had “responded to our expectation by inciting international sanctions and pressure” it said.
“As long as the U.S. denies even the basic decorum for its dialogue partner and clings to the outdated acting script which the previous administrations have all tried and failed, one cannot expect any progress in the implementation of the DPRK-U.S. joint statement including the denuclearization,” the ministry said.
The statement on the KCNA state news agency said North Korea, which calls itself the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, was still willing to implement a broad agreement made at a landmark June 12 summit
between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The statement also read that the US officials are “making baseless allegations against us and making desperate attempts at intensifying the international sanctions and pressure.”
It said “expecting any result, while insulting the dialogue partner” was “a foolish act that amounts to waiting to see a boiled egg hatch out.”
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Kim vowed in Singapore to work toward denuclearization but the two sides have yet to define a deal to meet that goal and Washington insists sanctions pressure must be maintained during negotiations.
The North Korean statement followed comments this week by American diplomats stressing the need for Pyongyang to take additional steps toward denuclearization and contentious remarks last week by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean Foreign Minster Ri Yong Ho on the sidelines of a regional summit in Singapore.
Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton also claimed this week that Pyongyang had not taken the necessary steps to denuclearize while U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Washington was “not willing to wait for too long.”
US is untrustworthy and unreliable
North Korean Foreign Minster Ri traveled this week to Iran. Speaking in a meeting with the foreign minister of North Korea Ri Yong Ho on Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani referred to amicable Tehran-Pyongyang relations in the past decades and said: “Iran and North Korea have always had close views and supported each other in many critical international points and the global community”.
He also went on to refer to the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as an international agreement, saying: “The US administration’s performance in these years has led the country to be considered untrustworthy and unreliable around the world that does not meet any of its obligations”.
It was the first time a senior North Korean official visited Iran since June 12, when Kim who is seeking relief from tough sanctions in a landmark summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore, committed in a broad statement to work toward denuclearization.
New report showed North Korea has not stopped its nuclear and missile programs in violation of United Nations sanctions, despite US bragging about the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
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