North Korea Not Cooperating in Efforts to Negotiate for Denuclearization: US Official

State Department spokesman Ned Price speaks on the situation in Afghanistan at the State Department in Washington on Aug. 18, 2021. Andrew Harnik/Reuters

The United States has attempted to engage North Korea in dialogue for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but the Kim Jong Un regime has responded only with provocations, a U.S. official said Monday.

“This offer of dialogue and diplomacy has, at least so far, been met only with additional provocations,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a press briefing.

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile off its east coast on Sept. 25, officials in South Korea and Japan said, just two days after U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan arrived in South Korea for naval drills.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said the details of the missile launch were being investigated but that the missile would have flown about 400 kilometers (249 miles) at an altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles) on a regular trajectory.

North Korea has conducted a series of missile launches this year, including one involving its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-17, all of which are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

“The DPRK tends to go through periods of provocation, periods of engagement. It’s very clear that we’re in a period of provocation now,” he said, referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Price said Washington remains open to negotiation and would continue to work with treaty allies to enhance their defense.

Denuclearization Requires a ‘Willing Partner’

Special envoy Sung Kim said recently that Washington had offered to negotiate with North Korea via a communication channel in New York but received no response from the Kim regime.

“I believe our last communication with the DPRK was during the summer. We sent the message reiterating in reengagement and also reoffering our assistance in COVID-related items,” he told reporters in Seoul, The Korea Times reported.

Sung Kim said South Korea and Washington have “many creative ideas” for reengagement with North Korea to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but they need cooperation on the other side to do this.

“The problem is that in order for us to try these ideas, we need a partner. But the one thing we want to avoid is just negotiating by ourselves,” he said.

“We need a willing partner on the other side of the table, who will engage us in a serious discussion about all of these ideas that we have … many creative ideas, including ideas to address their concerns,” the envoy added.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol had offered to provide North Korea with an economic plan to help improve North Koreans’ livelihoods in stages in exchange for complete denuclearization. But North Korea rejected Yoon’s offer.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said that there will be no denuclearization talks, negotiations, or “bargaining chips” in that process.

The country adopted a first-use nuclear doctrine on Sept. 8, which Kim stated would make North Korea’s status as a nuclear weapons state “irreversible.”