North Korea on Thursday threatened to stall the denuclearization of its missile program if the U.S. continues to abide by an “outdated acting script” amid Washington’s calls to enforce sanctions against the regime.
A statement from the nation’s Foreign Ministry said that following President Trump’s June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the North has worked to improve relations between the two countries and “make active contributions to peace, security, and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and over the world.”
The foreign ministry said that despite their efforts to work with the U.S. — by stopping their missile launches and nuclear tests — America continues to insist on “denuclearization first,” and continues to encourage international sanctions against the North.
U.S. officials, according to North Korea, “are making baseless allegations against us and making desperate attempts at intensifying the international sanctions,” against what they believe to be Trump’s intentions to better relations between the two countries.
“As long as the U.S. denies even the basic decorum for its dialogue partner and clings to the outdated acting script which the previous administrations have all tried and failed, one cannot expect any progress in the implementation of the DPRK-U.S. joint statement including the denuclearization,” the statement read.
The North noted that they returned remains of U.S. soldiers who fought in the Korean War to the U.S. last week.
The foreign ministry said actions taken by the U.S. equate to “throwing cold water” over their efforts, calling it an “indeed foolish act that amounts to waiting to see a boiled egg hatch out.”
At Trump and Kim’s historic summit, the two signed a document stating that Pyongyang would work toward “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
But, following the meeting, U.S. intelligence officials said they believed North Korea was “deceiving” the U.S., saying the regime was bolstering production for nuclear weapons at “multiple secret sites” in recent months.
