Downplaying North Korea’s warning that the United States must change the course of its negotiations before its patience runs out, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday was of the view that Pyongyang desires to make a deal with Washington.
“I think they would like to make a deal and we would like to make a deal,” Trump told reporters, adding that he looks forward to meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “at the appropriate time”.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for North Korea’s foreign ministry had in a statement urged the US to “drop its current way of calculation” to keep alive the agreement they reached during their first summit in June last year.
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“Whether the June 12 DPRK-U.S. Joint Statement will remain effective or turn out to be a mere blank sheet of paper will now be determined by how the U.S. would respond to our fair and reasonable stand,” Yonhap news agency quoted the spokesperson, as saying.
“The U.S. should duly look back on the past one year and cogitate about which will be a correct strategic choice before it is too late. The U.S. would be well-advised to change its current method of calculation and respond to our request as soon as possible. There is a limit to our patience,” he added.
A similar call by North Korea was made in April when Kim had said that he would wait for Washington’s “courageous decision” until the end of this year.
Talks between the two countries hit a roadblock after the second summit in Vietnam ended abruptly with no joint statement being released. The two sides reportedly failed to resolve their differences on sanctions waivers.
North Korea has since launched multiple projectiles as a sign of their apparent frustration regarding the stalled talks and continuing sanctions.
Tensions between the two countries briefly heightened recently after the US seized one of its cargo ships on the suspicion of shipping coal and other goods in violation of global sanctions on the regime.
(With ANI inputs)