North Korea blasts US position in nuclear talks

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - North Korea on Friday asked the U.S. to put aside its "current method" in negotiations to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

"Unless… [the U.S.] comes forward with a new method of calculation, the DPRK [Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea]-U.S. dialogue will never be resumed," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson told state run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Pyongyang claimed that it discontinued its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests in view of negotiations between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Lamenting that the U.S. did not respond to North Korea's goodwill, the spokesperson accused Washington of deliberately "pushing the talks to a rupture" by demanding the DPRK disarm unilaterally.

Referring to the failed summit in Hanoi last February, Pyongyang blamed the "arbitrary and dishonest position" of the U.S. for setbacks to the meeting.

"We also took a broadminded step towards the realization of the repatriation of the American POW/MIA remains," the spokesperson added.

Trump walked out of the summit last February when he claimed he could not agree to all of Kim's demands.