North Korea plays hardball with US over reviving nuclear talks

Pyongyang seeks concessions as it leans on China for economic turnaround

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the plenary meeting of the Workers' Party Central Committee on June 17. He called for officials to prepare for both "dialogue" and "confrontation" with the U.S. that day. © Reuters

YOSUKE ONCHI and TSUYOSHI NAGASAWA, Nikkei staff writers

June 25, 2021 06:57 JST

SEOUL/WASHINGTON -- As speculation swirls around renewing a nuclear dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea, Pyongyang has upped the ante by signaling it will not return to the negotiating table without concessions from Washington.

"We are not considering even the possibility of any contact with the U.S., let alone having it, which would get us nowhere, only taking up precious time," North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon said in a statement issued Wednesday.