Daily Times

North Korea does not feel the need to have talks with the United States, which would be nothing more than “a political tool” for Washington, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Saturday, ahead of a US envoy’s visit to South Korea. Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said negotiations would not work out between Washington and Pyongyang and there will be no change in North Korea’s policy. “We do not feel any need to sit face to face with the US, as it does not consider the DPRK-US dialogue as nothing more than a tool for grappling its political crisis,” Choe said in a statement carried by state-run KCNA news agency. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s formal name. US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun is due to visit South Korea next week to discuss stalled talks with North Korea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un should meet again before the US elections in November, which would help resume the stalled nuclear negotiations. Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, told reporters in New York on Thursday that the president might seek another summit with Kim as an “October Surprise” ahead of the election.