Pyongyang says US policy is “ outdated ” as Biden has said he will use diplomacy and “ harsh deterrence ” to contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
North Korea called US diplomacy “bogus” on Sunday, dismissing the idea of talks with Washington a day after the Biden administration said it was open to diplomatic negotiations over denuclearization, media reported of state.
Diplomacy was a “false sign” for the United States to “cover up its hostile acts,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement from the KCNA news agency.
He also warned President Joe Biden that he had made a “big blunder” with his “outdated” stance towards the country.
In a separate statement also led by KCNA, the Foreign Office accused Biden of insulting Kim Jong Un, and added, “We have warned the United States enough to understand that they will be hurt if they provoke us. . “
Biden said in his first speech as president of Congress on Wednesday that he would use “diplomacy as well as severe deterrence” to contain North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
The White House also said on Friday that its goal remains “the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” but added that the new US president is not seeking a “big deal” with the North Korean leader.
US policy will see “a calibrated and practical approach that is open and explores diplomacy” with North Korea, Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
‘Top-down diplomacy’
Psaki gave little indication of what kind of diplomatic initiative this might involve, but suggested that Biden had learned from the experience of previous administrations, which had struggled for decades to deal with dictatorship in North Korea or , in recent years, to its growing nuclear arsenal. .
She said Washington would “not focus on making a big deal,” apparently referring to the type of dramatic global deal former President Donald Trump initially suggested as possible when he met the northern leader. -Korean.
The White House would also not follow the more deadpan approach called “strategic patience” adopted by Barack Obama, Psaki said.
In April, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is due to visit the White House on May 21, urged Biden to engage directly with Kim on denuclearization.
Moon told the newspaper he was in favor of “top-down diplomacy.”
Jenny Town, director of 38 North, a Washington-based North Korean surveillance program, told Reuters news agency that the outlines of Biden’s policy looked good so far.
“But the details will matter greatly in assessing the administration’s success with this ‘new approach’. I’m not sure there is much to say until I see more, ”she said.
There are still fears that North Korea will resume testing nuclear devices. North Korea launched two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan in March.
The White House has not said whether it will offer concessions to convince North Korea to resume talks.
The Biden administration simultaneously signaled a hard line on human rights, denuclearization and sanctions, while making diplomatic overtures that officials say were rejected by Pyongyang, which has long called for sanctions relief. .
