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US envoy Stephen Biegun dismisses year-end deadline, urges North Korea to talk
- Biegun arrived in Seoul for talks with South Korean officials and warned North Korea against ‘major provocation in the days ahead’
- North Korean officials recently said denuclearisation is off the table and they have threatened to lift a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests
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A senior US diplomat said on Monday that Washington won’t accept a year-end deadline set by North Korea to make concessions in stalled nuclear talks and urged Pyongyang to return to a negotiating table immediately.
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“On this point, let me be absolutely clear: the United States does not have a deadline,” Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for North Korea, told reporters. “We are fully aware of the strong potential for North Korea to conduct a major provocation in the days ahead. To say the least, such an action will be most unhelpful in achieving lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.”
Biegun, who was in Seoul for talks with South Korean officials, called on North Korea to sit down for talks.
“Let me speak directly to our counterparts in North Korea: It is time for us to do our jobs. Let’s get this done. We are here. And you know how to reach us,” he said.
It’s unclear if North Korea will reach out to the US to resolve their widening differences on how to achieve North Korean denuclearisation.
Senior North Korean officials have recently said denuclearisation is already off the negotiating table and they have threatened to lift a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests. In past months, North Korea has also conducted a series of short-range missile and other weapons tests.
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