Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said on Friday that Pyongyang is ready for dialogue or confrontation with the U.S., warning Washington that continuing with sanctions would be a miscalculation, according to state media agency KCNA.
Working-level talks between the U.S. and DPRK have yet to restart since stalling after the failed second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February.
Trump and Kim met again in June at the inter-Korean border and agreed to reopen negotiations, but that has not happened as yet.
"If the U.S. is still dreaming of achieving everything with sanctions, we must either let it dream on or shatter that dream," Ri said.
"We are prepared for both dialogue and confrontation. If the U.S. tries to confront us with sanctions and not abandon its confrontational posture, it would be a miscalculation."
Ri also accused U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of casting "dark shadows" over U.S.-DPRK talks, claiming that Pompeo was more interested in his own political ambitions than in current U.S. foreign policy and calling the chief U.S. negotiator the "diehard toxin of the U.S. diplomacy" who employs "hackneyed sanctions rhetoric."
"He is truly impudent enough to utter such thoughtless words which only leave us disappointed and sceptical as to whether we can solve any problem with such a guy," Ri said in a statement carried by KCNA.
Ri's remarks were prompted by Pompeo's comments in a media interview this week saying if the DPRK doesn’t denuclearize, the U.S. will maintain the strongest sanctions in history while convincing the DPRK that denuclearization is the right path.
Since the Vietnam summit, the DPRK has demanded that Pompeo be replaced with a "more mature" person, while lauding the rapport built between Kim and Trump.
U.S. envoy Stephen Biegun, who leads working-level talks with DPRK, was in Seoul this week to discuss ways to get negotiations back on track.
Talks were expected to be reopened soon, South Korea's deputy national security adviser Kim Hyun-chong said on Thursday, giving an upbeat assessment after meeting Biegun.
"We look forward to the progress of denuclearization talks in terms of mutual trust and respect between the U.S. and DPRK, culminating in good results," said deputy spokesman Kim Eun-han of South Korea's Unification Ministry on Friday, when asked about Ri's statement.
The DPRK has fired a series of short-range missiles in recent weeks in protest against U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises and the adoption of new weapons, complicating the reopening of the talks.
(With input from Reuters)