Nuclear talks in Sweden between North Korean and American officials have broken off, the top negotiator for North Korea announced late on Saturday, dashing hopes for an end to months of deadlock.
The talks, held at a remote conference centre outside Stockholm, were the first formal meeting since last June, when U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to restart negotiating following a failed summit in Vietnam in February.
North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Myong Gil, blamed the US for their inflexibility, saying the negotiators from Washington would not “give up their old viewpoint and attitude.”
“The negotiations have not fulfilled our expectation and finally broke off,” Kim told reporters.
The U.S. State Department said that Kim’s comments did not reflect “the content or spirit” of the talks, which lasted almost 9 hours.
“The U.S. brought creative ideas and had good discussions with its DPRK [North Korea] counterparts,” spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
“The United States and the DPRK will not overcome a legacy of 70 years of war and hostility on the Korean peninsula through the course of a single Saturday,” she added.
Read more at https://www.euronews.com/2019/10/06/
