Published : Dec. 19, 2017 - 13:28
North Korea on Tuesday rejected US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's latest proposal for dialogue without preconditions, saying that it has no interest in Washington's scheme to make it give up its nuclear program.
Tillerson said last week that the US is ready to begin talks with North Korea "without preconditions" in a possible shift of US policy. But days later, he said that the North should halt its "threatening behavior" before talks can begin, backpedaling on his previous remarks.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (Yonhap)
The Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said that nothing has changed in its stance of pursuing nuclear weapons, regardless of whether Washington has offered talks without strings attached.
"The US is trying to shift responsibility for tensions on the Korean Peninsula to us with its dialogue offensive," the newspaper said in a commentary. "The move is seen as being intended to set the tone for manipulating new U.N. Security Council resolutions that may include a maritime blockade if we do not accept dialogue aimed at discussing the abandonment of our nuclear weapons."
North Korea made it clear that it will not put its nuclear weapons and missiles on the negotiation table if the US does not ditch its hostile policy toward Pyongyang.
"There is no change in our stance that we will not budge an inch in our march toward strengthening our nuclear force," it said.
Tensions have heightened after North Korea fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile in late November, declaring that it has completed its nuclear armament. (Yonhap)