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North Korea Rules Out Talks, as US Diplomat Visits Seoul

William Gallo

   SEOUL - North Korea says it still has no interest in talks with the
   United States, amid efforts by South Korea to arrange another summit
   between Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.

   "Explicitly speaking once again, we have no intention to sit face to
   face with the U.S.," said Kwon Jong Gun, a North Korean foreign
   ministry official, in an article in the state-run Korean Central News
   Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday.

   The statement was released hours before Deputy Secretary of State Steve
   Biegun, the top U.S. negotiator on North Korea, was set to land in
   Seoul for meetings focused on how to advance talks over Pyongyang's
   nuclear program.

   The U.S.-North Korea negotiations broke down in February 2019 when
   Trump and Kim failed to reach a deal during a summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.
   Although the two sides held brief working-level talks in October, North
   Korea has since refused to hold any dialogue.

   Earlier this month, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he would
   like to see Trump and Kim hold another meeting before the U.S.
   presidential election in November.

   Trump has said his relationship with Kim remains strong, but he has not
   recently commented on the chances of another summit. He may have other
   priorities; with just four months to go until the election, Trump is
   badly trailing Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in the
   polls.

   Biegun last month said an in-person summit before the election is
   unlikely, in part because of coronavirus concerns.

   Senior North Korean diplomat Choe Son Hui on Saturday dismissed the
   possibility of a fourth Trump-Kim meeting, suggesting another summit
   would only benefit Trump.

   Choe's stance was "as clear as day," according to the Tuesday KCNA
   statement, which also denounced South Korean efforts to mediate between
   Washington and Pyongyang.

   "Irony is that the South, which fails to manage its own business, came
   out to offer 'a helping hand' allegedly to solve the DPRK-U.S.
   relations, which are getting more and more complicated," the statement
   said, using the acronym of North Korea's official name.

   "It is just the time for (South Korea) to stop meddling in other's
   affairs, but it seems there is no cure or prescription for its bad
   habit," the statement added.

   North-South relations, it warned, are "bound to go further bankrupt."

   North Korea last month ramped up tensions against the South, destroying
   the two countries' de facto embassy and cutting off official lines of
   communication.

   The moves were seen partly as an attempt to get Seoul to pressure
   Washington in the nuclear talks. However, the North's motives became
   muddied after Kim last week abruptly suspended the pressure campaign
   without explanation.

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