New York, July 25: North Korea’s UN Ambassador has said his government was not opposed to negotiations with the United States on issues of common concern.
“We are not against a dialogue. We are not against any negotiations on issues of common concern,” Ambassador Sin Son Ho told reporters at the North Korean mission in New York.
He said Pyongyang was not to blame for the absence of dialogue with Washington. “It is not because of us. We are ready anytime.”
And he reaffirmed that his government would not return to the six-party talks on a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
“We have already made our position very clear. The six-party talks are gone forever. We will never participate in the six-party talks, never again,” the North Korean envoy said, referring to long-running negotiations involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
He said that Pyongyang broke off the talks because the other parties to the talks had not implemented what they had promised.
“They did not implement what they have agreed, what they have promised… So we will not trust them any longer. Whatever agreement, whatever promise they give us, they always cheat,” he added.
In exchange for abandoning its nuclear program, North Korea was promised food and energy assistance from the other parties.
-Agencies