North Korea Rules Out U S Talks in Jab at Visiting Biden Envoys

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North Korea ruled out further talks with the U.S. for now, as Kim Jong Un’s regime sought to raise pressure on top Biden administration officials visiting Seoul.

A senior North Korean diplomat confirmed Thursday that Pyongyang had rejected numerous overtures from Washington over the past month, dismissing them as a “time-delaying trick.” “It will only be a waste of time to sit with the U.S., as it is not ready to feel and accept new change and new times,” First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The statement -- coming in the middle of the first South Korea trip by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin -- highlighted one of the biggest security dilemmas facing the new administration. The American cabinet officials have been huddling with regional allies this week as part of President Joe Biden’s efforts to formulate a new approach to North Korea and China.

Blinken shrugged off Choe’s comments, saying the U.S. was focused on consulting partners to draft policy plans. When asked about Biden’s willingness to meet Kim, he said “everything is on the table.”

“There are different kinds of pressure points that might convince North Korea to make progress,” Blinken said after meeting South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-young and Defense Minister Suh Wook. “The goal is to really figure out how we have the best chance in resolving the challenges posed by North Korea to us and unfortunately to its own people.”

Despite former U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to hold three face-to-face meetings with Kim, North Korea has continued to expand and upgrade its nuclear weapons program. The Biden administration must also overcome strains with Seoul after a bruising troop-funding fight, which the allies formally resolved Thursday by signing a six-year deal.

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