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North Korea's state-controlled newspaper on Sunday accused the United States of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" against Pyongyang, after Washington abruptly cancelled a visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Negotiations have been all but deadlocked since U.S. President Donald Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June.
Pompeo has pressed for tangible steps toward North Korea's abandonment of its nuclear arsenal while Pyongyang is demanding that Washington first make concessions of its own.
North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper said U.S. special units based in Japan were staging an air drill aimed at "the infiltration into Pyongyang", citing a South Korean media outlet.
"Such acts prove that the U.S. is hatching a criminal plot to unleash a war against the DPRK and commit a crime which deserves merciless divine punishment in case the U.S. fails in the scenario of the DPRK's unjust and brigandish denuclearisation first," the paper said.
"We cannot but take a serious note of the double-dealing attitudes of the U.S. as it is busy staging secret drills involving man-killing special units while having a dialogue with a smile on its face," it noted.
A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul said he had no information on the drill alleged in the newspaper. The U.S. military spokesman in South Korea was not immediately available to comment.
The editorial, which did not mention the Pompeo visit, urged Washington to give up the "pointless military gamble" and implement the Singapore agreement, in which the leaders pledged to work towards a complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
Since the summit, the two sides have struggled to narrow differences over the North’s nuclear weapons programme.
Pyongyang is calling for a declaration of peace as part of security guarantees designed to encourage it to abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, while the Trump administration says a peace deal and other concessions will only come after more progress on denuclearisation.
In part to reassure North Korea, Trump cancelled or delayed joint military drills with South Korea, but smaller exercises continue.
Trump partly blamed China for the lack of progress with North Korea and suggested that talks with Pyongyang could be on hold until after Washington resolved its bitter trade dispute with Beijing. China expressed "serious concern" about Trump's comments, which it called "irresponsible".
China's Foreign Ministry on Saturday expressed "serious concern" about U.S. comments on North Korea, after President Donald Trump cancelled his top diplomat's trip to Pyongyang and partly blamed China for a lack of progress in denuclearisation talks.The ministry said in a statement that it made "stern representations" to U.S. officials, and that it would continue to play a positive role in working towards denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.
China rejects US assertion it is holding up North Korea progress
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he has halted his top diplomat's planned trip to North Korea due to a lack of progress on denuclearization."I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Trump said in a series of tweets."Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!" he added.The announcement comes one day after Pompeo said he would go to North Korea next week alongside recently-appointed special representative to North Korea, Steve Biegun.
Trump halts Pompeo from going to North Korea
North Korea indicated Friday that unless Washington is prepared to drop its hardline approach to denuclearization, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit next week to Pyongyang will be a wasted one."It's a foolish idea if the U.S. thinks our country would surrender by itself, like other countries who gave in to persistent American sanction pressure," commented the North's state-run propaganda website Uriminzokkiri.The same outlet criticized Washington's new sanctions on Russian entities accused of doing illicit business with North Korea as a "miscalculation" that will prove to be ineffective.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also recently condemned sanctions against his regime as "brigandish."Pyongyang has repeatedly called for simultaneous measures to build trust with the U.S., rejecting Washington's stance that the North should fully denuclearize before gaining sanctions relief or any other benefits such as a formal peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War.Pompeo's visit scheduled for next week will be his fourth trip to the North Korean capital, although he has been unable to make tangible progress since the broad denuclearization agreement between Trump and Kim reached this June.Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry even denounced the U.S. for making "gangster-like" demands after Pompeo's last visit in early July.This time, Washington's top envoy will be accompanied by a new special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, a vice president of U.S. automaker Ford.Biegun was picked Thursday to fill the void left by Joseph Yun, who retired in February.Meanwhile, Seoul's presidential office expressed optimism about Washington's diplomacy with Pyongyang, despite the apparent gap between them."We hope Secretary Pompeo will make big progress in denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula when he visits North Korea," spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters Friday, according to local news agency Yonhap.South Korean President Moon Jae-in is in line to head to the North next month, following two inter-Korean summits earlier this year.North Korean leader Kim slams sanctions
North Korean media calls US demands 'foolish'