North Korea rejects calls for dialogue from Washington

Residents of South Korea watch TV, showing the face of the leader North Korean Kim Jong-un, September 30, 2021, Seoul. AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP

The United States affirmed, Wednesday, September 30, not to have “no hostile intention” towards North Korea and renewed their call for dialogue. “Our policy aims for a gradual and practical approach for serious and lasting diplomacy with North Korea” , assured a spokesperson for the US State Department.

“The United States is ready to meet with North Korean officials without preconditions. We hope that North Korea will respond positively to our offer ”, he said continued as a response to a speech-flowing before the Supreme People’s Assembly, the North Korean Parliament. Kim Jong-un had called the United States’ repeated offer of dialogue a “front to hide their deceit and hostile acts, and a continuation of the hostile policy of previous administrations ”.

“Since the advent of the new US administration, the US military threat and its hostile policy against us have not changed at all, they have become more deceptive , Mr. Kim continued, according to reports. tees by the official daily Rodong Sinmun . The most fundamental crisis that shatters the basic principles of international peace and stability is abuse of power and coercion by the United States and its supporters. ”

A hypersonic missile?

Talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled since the failure of the 2019 summit in Hanoi (Vietnam) between Kim Jong-un and then President of the United States, Donald Trump. Since Kim Jong-un came to power, weapons programs have progressed in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Pyongyang justifying them by the need to protect against the possibility of an American invasion.

The DPRK has not carried out any nuclear tests or firing an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017. But she claimed this week that she had tested a hypersonic glider missile, which, if the veracity of the information was confirmed, would constitute a major technological advance.

The United Nations Security Council plans to meet urgently Thursday on North Korea, at the request of the United States, from France and the United Kingdom, according to diplomatic sources. This session should be held in the morning and in camera.