North Korea’s expectations for nuclear talks with the U.S. have been “fading,” a senior official with the country’s foreign ministry said in a press statement on Saturday, NK News reports.
Choe Son Hui, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, issued a press statement in response to a speech delivered by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday at the 101st American Legion National Convention.
Pompeo said at the event that the Trump administration “recognized that North Korea’s rogue behavior could not be ignored.”
In response, Choe said Pompeo “provoked us once again by making an irrational remark,” according to the Korean-language statement carried by the state-run external-focused outlet Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“The act of Pompeo severely insulting us and even labeling us [as conducting] ‘rogue behavior’ is a slip of the tongue that they will definitely regret,” Choe said.
Choe continued that Pompeo’s statement “oversteps the bounds and makes it more difficult to open the scheduled DPRK-U.S. working-level negotiations.”
The North Korean first vice foreign minister said Tuesday’s speech resulted in “amplifying our people’s bad feelings toward Americans more and more.”
“Our expectations for dialogue with the U.S. have been fading gradually, and it (the U.S.) has been pushing us to the situation where we are compelled to review all the measures that we have taken until now,” she said.
“The U.S. had better not try to test our patience any longer with remarks that irritate us if it does not want to make horrendous regrets [afterward].”
Choe said the U.S. superior authorities made a “series of serious comments provoking” the North, adding the country will keep close watch on the intention of Pompeo’s remarks.
“We are very curious about the background surrounding the U.S. head of foreign affairs making such imprudent remarks and we will keep an eye on what the calculation is.”
Saturday’s statement notably comes less than half a day after the U.S. Treasury Department on Friday issued new designations against Taiwanese nationals and companies as well as one oil tanker for breaching UN resolutions.