North Korea says it is not considering any contact with US: State media

SEOUL: North Korea is not considering any contact with the United States, Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon said on Wednesday (Jun 23).

"We are not considering even the possibility of any contact with the US, let alone having it, which would get us nowhere, only taking up precious time," Ri said in a statement carried on state media KCNA.

His comments were made after the new US envoy for North Korea said in Seoul on Monday that he looked forward to a "positive response soon" on dialogue from Pyongyang.

READ: New US envoy for North Korea says looks forward to 'positive response' on dialogue

North Korea's nuclear weapons programme has been an intractable problem for Washington for years and in trying to change that, President Joe Biden's administration conducted a review of policy and said it would seek "calibrated and practical" ways to persuade Pyongyang to denuclearise.

On Tuesday, the sister of North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, said in a statement that the United States appeared to be interpreting signals from North Korea in the "wrong way".

READ: US has 'wrong' expectation for dialogue, says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister

Kim Yo Jong, who is a senior official in North Korea's ruling party, was responding to US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who on Sunday said he saw as an "interesting signal" a recent speech by Kim Jong Un on preparing for both confrontation and diplomacy with the United States.