North Korea rules out more talks with US

ANKARA

North Korea on Tuesday reiterated that it will not hold a dialogue with the US, slamming South Korea for “meddling" in its affairs.

In a statement carried by state-run Korean Central News Agency, Kwon Jong Gun, director general of US affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said: “Explicitly speaking once again, we have no intention to sit face to face with US.”

The statement coincides with the visit of US’ North Korea point-man Stephen Biegun who is set to arrive in Seoul.

“Our stand was as clear as day to be easily understood by the south using the same language as us,” said Kwon, adding: “Nevertheless, such nonsensical talks that there was no change in their efforts to mediate a DPRK-US summit are ceaselessly heard from the south. They seem to have a bad ear or are guided by the habit of always talking in their own favor.”

DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

“Irony is that the South, which fails to manage its own business, came out to offer a helping hand allegedly to solve the DPRK-US relations which are getting more and more complicated,” he added.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump held two summits since 2018, one in Singapore and other in Vietnam to discuss denuclearization of Korean peninsula. Trump also met Kim along the inter-Korean border.

However, there has been a downslide in relations further complicated by the recent North-South conflict.

“It is just the time for it to stop meddling in other's affairs but it seems there is no cure or prescription for its bad habit,” Kwon said. “The inter-Korean relations are bound to go further bankrupt as they only talk nonsense, unaware of the time.”

The tensions between North and South Korea peaked in mid-June when Pyongyang hit and destroyed inter-Korean office along the border with South.

The military action was triggered by the spread of anti-Pyongyang leaflets from across the South Korean border.

North Korea last week ordered the country's military to hit and demolish the inter-Korean liaison office at their mutual border.

The attack on the inter-Korean office -- a symbol of good relations between the North and South -- cost the job of the South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who resigned and took responsibility for the breakdown in communications between the countries.

However, South Korea media reported that North Korean defectors were behind the anti-Pyongyang leaflet propaganda.

The South also sought to immediately halt such leaflet campaigns.

Technically, the two countries remain at war after Korean War hostilities ended with a cease-fire in 1953, as a peace treaty was never signed.