North Korea declared on Monday it will not agree to any denuclearization agreement with the United States if Washington continues to pursue “vicious [and] hostile actions” against Kim Jong-un’s communist regime.
In a press statement from the Policy Research Director of Institute for American Studies from North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the regime expresses its “shock and indignation” at the “continued commitment by the United States of vicious anti-DPRK hostile actions.”
“During the past six months since the Singapore DPRK-U.S. summit, the U.S. high-ranking politicians including the secretary of state have almost every day slandered the DPRK out of sheer malice,” the statement reads.
North Korea’s anger comes after Trump administration last week announced fresh sanctions against three senior North Korean officials for human rights abuses. The move was principally in honor of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American college student who died shortly after being released from North Korean custody in June 2017.
The statement goes on to complain that the State and Treasury Departments have imposed numerous sanctions against companies, individuals, and ships belonging to Russia, China, and other allies by “fabricating pretexts of all hues such as money laundering, illegal transactions through ship-to-ship transfer and cyber-attack.”
It also makes light of what it describes as the “non-existent ‘human rights issue,'” despite the mountains of evidence indicating that the regime has possibly the world’s worst human rights record.
“Now, the international society is unanimous in welcoming the proactive denuclearization steps taken by the DPRK and urging the U.S. to respond to these steps in a corresponding manner,” it reads. “And president Trump avails himself of every possible occasion to state his willingness to improve DPRK-U.S. relations.”
“Far from the statements of the president, the State Department is instead bent on bringing the DPRK-U.S. relations back to the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire,” it continues. “I cannot help but throw doubt on the ulterior motive of the State Department.”
The U.S. continues to uphold and impose sanctions despite the ongoing talks, as North Korea has refused to make any meaningful steps towards ending its illegal nuclear weapons program. Mounting evidence suggests that North Korea continues to develop its nuclear arsenal and the reported destruction of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site may be exaggerated. Pyongyang invited journalists to witness explosions at the site that North Korean officials claimed was its demolition, but banned nuclear experts or anyone with expertise to determine the extent of the demolition from the site.
President Donald Trump affirmed this month that he maintains a “good relationship” with Kim Jong-un and expects to hold another second summit with him early next year.
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.