Pyongyang has halted nuclear negotiations with the US, with North Korea saying talks had broken down. Pyongyang said expectations had not been met, while Washington said the two sides had "good discussions."
Saturday's talks in Stockholm broke down "entirely because the US has not discarded its old stance and attitude," he told reporters through an interpreter outside the country's embassy in Stockholm. "The negotiations have not fulfilled our expectations and finally broke off," he said.
"The US raised expectations and offered suggestions like flexible approach, new methods and creative solutions, but they have disappointed us greatly, and dampened our enthusiasm for negotiations by bringing nothing to the negotiation table," he continued.
"These talks were held at a crucial moment when the situation on the Korean Peninsula stands at the crossroads of dialogue or confrontation. Therefore, we have come to the negotiating table with a responsibility that we should ensure a result to promote the development of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea]," he added.
'Handshake for peace' – Trump crosses into North Korea
US President Trump and North Korean leader Kim have met once again, this time in the Demilitarized Zone. In a largely symbolic meeting, Trump and Kim hailed their personal close relationship amid stalled nuclear talks.
Image: Reuters/U.S. Network Pool
Third Kim-Trump meeting
It was the third meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in just over a year. The first Trump-Kim summit took place in Singapore in June last year. A meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, was held in February 2019. Both meetings failed to provide a clear roadmap for North Korea's denuclearization.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/B. Smialowski
Making history
Trump made history on June 30 with his latest encounter with Kim. He's the first sitting US president to visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides South and North Korea. Trump briefly crossed into North Korea as he shook hands with Kim. He said he was "proud to step over the line."
Image: AFP/Getty Images/B. Smialowski
Watching over the North
Prior to his meeting with Kim, Trump flew to the DMZ with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The US president met with South Korean and American troops as he watched over North Korea from a military post in the DMZ. US presidents in the past have visited American troops on the South Korean side but not set foot in the DMZ.
Image: Reuters/K. Lamarque
'Great friendship'
From calling Kim Jong Un "little rocket man" to someone he has a "certain chemistry" with, Trump has come a long way in his dealing with North Korea. On June 30, he once again emphasized his personal ties with the North Korean dictator. Kim, too, hailed his "wonderful" relationship with Trump, saying the latest meeting would enable nuclear talks.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/B. Smialowski
'In no rush'
Washington and Pyongyang blame each other for the impasse over nuclear talks, but Trump is hopeful for a breakthrough. Although his previous two meetings with the North Korean leader didn't yield any result, Trump said he was "in no rush" to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Image: picture-alliance/Yonhapnews Agency
Regime survival
Experts have warned that North Korea may never agree to fully give up its nuclear ambitions, which they say Pyongyang views as vital for regime survival. In March, new satellite imagery suggested that North Korea started rebuilding a rocket launch site before Kim and Trump's Vietnam summit in Feruary. The site had been dismantled last year as part of Kim's denuclearization pledge.
Image: picture-alliance/Yonhap
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US negotiators, however, saw things differently, with State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus saying the North's comments "do not reflect the content or the spirit" of the "good discussions" that took place.
The North Korean delegation arrived in Stockholm on Thursday for the working-level denuclearization talks, and US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun arrived on Friday. Saturday's talks were the first between the US and North Korea since the breakdown of the second summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in Vietnam last February.
Sweden has played an important role in relations between Washington and Pyongyang. Unlike the United States, the country maintains official diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.
Food crisis in North Korea
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Initial optimism
Earlier Saturday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was hopeful the renewed talks would set the course for future dialogue between the two countries on North Korea's denuclearization.
"We came with a set of ideas. We hope that the North Koreans came with a good spirit and a willingness to try to move forward to implement what President Trump and Chairman Kim agreed to back in Singapore," Pompeo said, referring to the first summit between the two leaders in Singapore in June 2018.
He described the US negotiators as "a broad team with a full range of expertise to deal with the broad range of issues" related to the Singapore agreement, adding that the Stockholm talks would set the course for more dialogue in the coming weeks and months.
A South Korean media report has claimed a top Pyongyang nuclear envoy was killed — but he turned up on TV days later. It would not have been the first killing from the top, but it turned out to be another false report.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Living in the crosshairs
High-profile defector Hwang Jang Yop survived numerous assassination attempts before dying of natural causes at the age of 87. Hwang, who had been one of the leading ideologues of the North's isolationist regime, escaped to South Korea in 1997. Just months before his death in 2010, Seoul authorities arrested two North Korean military officers over one of many plots to kill him.
Image: AP
Uncle not 'fed to the dogs'
The execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle Jang Song Thaek, once the second most powerful man in the isolated country, sent shock waves beyond North Korea's borders. Many media outlets wrongly reported that he was fed to hungry dogs, as punishment for his "betrayal" of the ruling family. In reality, he was shot, according to Pyongyang officials and South Korean intelligence.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Rumors of brutality
In 2015, Seoul's security services reported that North Korean Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol was executed by an anti-aircraft gun. However, National Intelligence Service (NIS) soon appeared to backtrack from the report, saying that Hyon might still be alive. Reports of other brutal executions, involving artillery shells and flamethrowers, have also been difficult to confirm.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Poisoned needle
North Korean defector and well-known dissident Park Sang Hak was also targeted by a Pyongyang-linked hitman. In 2011, South Korean authorities arrested a former North Korean commando over the plot to assassinate Park with a poison-tipped needle.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
Removing a rival?
The estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un was reportedly poisoned by two women at a Kuala Lumpur airport. While details remained sketchy, it was widely believed the killers were sent by the North Korean regime. The 46-year-old Kim Jong Nam had been living abroad after falling from grace in 2001 for visiting Disneyland in Tokyo.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
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North Korea frequently couples diplomatic overtures with military moves as a way of maintaining pressure on negotiating partners, analysts say, and many believe this weapons system gives it added leverage.
Despite international condemnation of North Korea's repeated weapons tests, Trump has so far refrained from criticizing Pyongyang, while insisting his personal ties with the North's leader remain good.
The US president, who has invested much political capital in getting denuclearization negotiations back on track, has spoken about "tremendous progress" with the Kim regime.
The United Nations Security Council, meanwhile, is expected to hold closed-door talks early next week on the latest test, diplomats said. The talks were requested by Britain, France and Germany, as the European powers push for the world body to keep up pressure on Pyongyang, which is under heavy US and UN sanctions over its weapons program.
