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BFF-15
DPRK-US-CONDEMNTION
DPRK regrets U.S. “gangster-like” attitude at high-level talks
PYONGYANG, July 8, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – The Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea (DPRK) lashed out at the U.S. “gangster-like” attitude when demanding
denuclearization at the high-level talks between the two countries on Friday
and Saturday, saying it was “no doubt regrettable.”
Shortly after the U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
left the DPRK, the DPRK’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that the latest development “may shake our
unshakable will for denuclearization.”
Pompeo met with DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un during his previous two trips
to the country, but Kim refused to meet him this time, and instead wrote a
letter to U.S. President Donald Trump calling for furthering the process of
trust building between Pyongyang and Washington after the two leaders’
historic summit in Singapore last month, according to the KCNA.
A foreign ministry spokesman said that while the DPRK had asked for
simultaneous moves on formally declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War and
denuclearization, the U.S. side only insisted that the DPRK take steps for
comprehensive, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID).
“The DPRK side, during the talks, put forward the constructive proposals
to seek a balanced implementation of all the provisions of the Joint
Statement out of its firm willingness to remain faithful to the
implementation of the spirit and agreed points of the DPRK-U.S. summit
meeting and talks,” the KCNA quoted the spokesman as saying.
The DPRK’s proposals included realizing multilateral exchanges for
improved relations between Pyongyang and Washington, and declaring the end to
the status of war on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the signing of
the Korean Armistice Agreement to build a peace regime on the Korean
Peninsula, according to the spokesman.
In addition, Pyongyang pledged to dismantle its test ground of high-thrust
engine to make a physical verification of the suspension of its inter-
continental ballistic missile program as part of denuclearization steps. It
also proposed making an earliest start of the working-level talks for
returning the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War, said the
spokesman.
“But the U.S. side came up only with its unilateral and gangster-like
demand for denuclearization, just calling for CVID,” the spokesman said,
pointing out that the U.S. side “never mentioned the issue of establishing a
peace regime on the Korean peninsula.”
The DPRK regards the signing of a formal agreement with United States to
end the Korean War as a key measure to remove the danger of war on the
peninsula and normalize the DPRK-U.S. relations.
The spokesman also warned that the high-level talks “brought us in a
dangerous situation where we may be shaken in our unshakable will for
denuclearization, rather than consolidating trust between the DPRK and the
United States.”
The spokesman also criticized the U.S. delegation for emphasizing too much
the suspension of U.S.-South Korea joint military drills in August, and much
less the dismantlement of Punguye Ri nuclear test site in May by the DPRK,
adding that the military drills can be easily resumed while the destruction
of the test site is irreversible.
Pompeo paid a visit to the DPRK from Thursday to Saturday, weeks after
Trump met with Kim in Singapore on June 12.
Before leaving Pyongyang, he told reporters that the two sides “had many
hours of productive conversations” to deliver the commitments made in the
Singapore summit.
BSS/XINHUA/GMR/1125 hrs