AUGUST 9, 2018
North Korea ripped the U.S. government on Thursday for insisting that Pyongyang fully denuclearize, claiming that Trump administration officials are “going against” President Trump by criticizing the nation.
The North Korean government that it has halted nuclear missile tests, dismantled a nuclear test site and the remains of Americans killed in the Korean War, but lamented continued criticism from U.S. officials.
“We hoped that these goodwill measures would contribute to breaking down the high barrier of mistrust existing between the DPRK and the U.S. and to establishing mutual trust. However, the U.S. responded to our expectation by inciting international sanctions and pressure against the DPRK,” the statement read, using an acronym for North Korea’s official name.
The country claimed that the U.S. is denying it “basic decorum” and is clinging “to the outdated acting script which the previous administrations have all tried and failed,” warning that they “cannot expect any progress in the implementation” of the joint agreement between the two countries reached earlier this year.
The statement cited U.S. officials who are “going against President Trump” and his intent to advance relations between the two nations, saying that the president has expressed “gratitude to our goodwill measures” implemented as part of the agreement.
“The U.S. should, even at this belated time, respond to our sincere efforts in a corresponding manner,” North Korea added in its statement.
Trump has hailed North Korea’s moves since his historic summit with leader Kim Jong Un during a summit in Singapore in June, where the U.S. agreed to provide unspecified security guarantees in exchange for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
However, White House national security adviser John Bolton that North Korean has not moved toward denuclearization and that the U.S. would not lift economic sanctions against the country until it takes more steps toward ending its nuclear program.
Vox also reported Wednesday that North Korea for denuclearization presented by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo several times over the past two months.
Courtesy/Source: The Hill
