RTTue, 03 Dec 2019 08:58 UTC
© AFP/STR/KCNA/KNS; Reuters/Kevin LamarqueKorean Leader Kim Jong-un โข US President Donald Trump
Pyongyang accused the US of only being interested in exploiting the stalled negotiations for political campaigning but also hinted that it's up to Washington to get into the Christmas mood this year.
Washington's negotiating tactic is "nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the DPRK bound to dialogue," designed purely to use the issue of talks in domestic election campaigns, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Thae Song said in a statement on Tuesday.
"So, no one will lend an ear to the US any longer," the diplomat warned, speaking about the looming year-end deadline set by Pyongyang for America to change its attitude toward the negotiation process.
What is left to be done now is the US option and it is entirely up to the US what Christmas gift it will select to get.
The message came after the parties failed to agree on the details of North Korea's denuclearization during talks in Stockholm in October.
Attempts to schedule a new round of negotiations for December also failed.Pyongyang has long blamed the US for the setbacks in the talks, even calling its policies "gangster-like." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied placing any unjustified pressure on North Korea and criticized the nation for renewing weapons tests in recent months.
US special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun dismissed Pyongyang's deadline as "an artificial" deadline the North Koreans "set upon themselves."
Comment: Fickle diplomacy exemplifies the all-too-pathetic caliber of US foreign relations expertise. Whatever happened to Trump's 'art of the deal'? One would think progress towards an agreement would be a significant stroke in his pre-election 'win' column.
RT, 3/12/2019: Trump will use US might if he has to
Trump believes he has saved the world from a major war by reaching out and befriending North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but added he may yet unleash all the military power of the Pentagon against him.
The statements, blending together a call for peace and threats of war, came from the US leader on Tuesday after officials in Pyongyang complained that the nuclear negotiations between the two nations were going nowhere. Trump praised his handling of North Korea, claiming that "if you would have listened to President Obama, we would have been in a World War III right now."
The US president took credit for defusing the conflict with North Korea by fostering a good personal relationship with Kim. He said he is probably "the only one he has such a good relationship with in the world."
Trump said he was in no rush to declare the negotiations process dead, but warned he had the world's most powerful military at his disposal. "We are by far the most powerful country in the world, and hopefully we won't have to use it. But if we do, we'll use it. If we have to, we'll do it," he said.
Comment: Fickle diplomacy exemplifies the all-too-pathetic caliber of US foreign relations expertise. Whatever happened to Trump's 'art of the deal'? One would think progress towards an agreement would be a significant stroke in his pre-election 'win' column.
RT, 3/12/2019: Trump will use US might if he has to