The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Tuesday the United States was trying to drag out denuclearization talks ahead of the U.S. presidential election next year and issued a veiled threat to Washington to soften its demands, its state media reported. 

Ri Thae Song, DPRK's vice foreign minister in charge of U.S. affairs, accused Washington of being "keen on earning time" instead of making concessions.

"The dialogue touted by the U.S. is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the DPRK bound to dialogue and use it in favor of the political situation and election in the U.S.," Ri said in a statement on state news agency KCNA.

"What is left to be done now is the U.S. option and it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get."

'A demonstration of resilience'

KCNA also reported that Kim Jong Un has opened a flagship construction project close to Mount Paektu, a symbol of the Korean nation and officially the birthplace of his father and predecessor.

Pyongyang has poured huge resources into the rebuilding of Samjiyon, the closest town to the dormant volcano that straddles the border with China. The project is on a vast scale and includes a museum of revolutionary activities, a winter sports training complex, processing plants for blueberries and potatoes, and 10,000 apartments.

Kim is closely associated with the scheme and has visited the area several times, riding a white horse to the mountain's summit in October.

Pyongyang is subject to multiple sets of international sanctions imposed over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and KCNA portrayed Samjiyon as a demonstration of resilience.

The Korean people were, it said, "advancing along the straight road chosen by themselves without any vacillation despite the worst trials."

The opening comes with nuclear negotiations between the DPRK and the United States hit a stalemate since a second summit between Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February collapsed without a deal.  

Lifting some of U.S. sanctions imposed on the DPRK was a key demand at the Hanoi summit.  

The latest working-level meeting between the two countries in October in Stockholm again broke down.

Kim has set an end-year deadline for Washington to show flexibility in its position, but U.S. officials have described the deadline as artificial.

(With input from agencies)