North Korean leaders say there is no reason to keep a relationship with the United States, according to statements published in state media reports on Friday.
Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon told KCNA Watch that in the two years since President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Singapore, the relationship between the two countries is “unchanged, but the situation of the Korean peninsula is getting worse.”
While the 2018 Singapore summit resulted in a joint statement on stabilizing the region and committing to denuclearization and the repatriation of prisoners, little progress has been made on the topics. In 2019, the U.S. also failed to negotiate a deal with North Korea to get it to give up its nuclear weapons, NBC News reports.
Ri claims Trump was never trying to reach any type of agreement.
“Never again will we provide the U.S. chief executive with another package to be used for achievements without receiving any returns,” he said. “Nothing is more hypocritical than an empty promise.”
Ri said relations with the U.S. have “shifted into despair," and any hope for peace on the Korean peninsula has "faded away into a dark nightmare."
"The question is whether there will be a need to keep holding hands shaken in Singapore, as we see that there is nothing of factual improvement to be made in the DPRK-U.S. relations," Ri said, calling North Korea by its official name.
Ri said Washington remained a long-term threat to North Korea and that the country would build up "reliable military forces" to counter any U.S. threats.
"The U.S. professes to be an advocate for improved relations ... but in fact, it is hell-bent on only exacerbating the situation," he said.
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