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Headlines

US 'hell-bent' on hostility despite talks: North Korea

United Nations, July 4

North Korea has accused Washington of being "hell-bent on hostile acts", days after US President Donald Trump and regime leader Kim Jong-un held a historic meeting and agreed to resume nuclear talks.

Nortk Korea's delegation to the UN said on Wednesday that the US was "obsessed with sanctions" while responding to an allegation that Pyongyang had breached a cap on refined petroleum imports that was set in 2017.

The delegation's remarks come in response to a joint letter sent by the US, France, Germany and the UK to all UN member states that called for further sanctions on Pyongyang, the BBC reported.

The letter reportedly asked all members to send expatriate North Korean workers home.

The development comes after Trump met Kim on June 30 in the heavily fortified demilitarized zone which divides the two Koreas and the two sides agreed to set up teams to resume stalled negotiations on denuclearization.

The latest North Korean statement marks a shift in tone and a return to the angry exchanges that have marred relations between the countries in recent times.

North Korea also accused Washington of attempting to "undermine the peaceful atmosphere" on the Korean peninsula.

"What can't be overlooked is the fact that this joint letter game was carried out... on the very same day when President Trump proposed (a) summit meeting," the delegation statement read.

"(It) speaks to the reality that the US is practically more and more hell-bent (on) hostile acts against North Korea. All UN member states will have to keep vigilance against deliberate attempts by the US to undermine the peaceful atmosphere that has been created on the Korean Peninsula," it said.

Pyongyang added that it was "quite ridiculous" for the US to view sanctions as a "panacea for all problems".
The US is yet to respond to the statement.

The US President and the North Korean leader earlier met in Hanoi in February but the talks ended with no deal, as they failed to agree on the pace at which sanctions on Pyongyang should be eased. 

Since then the negotiations have stalled, though Kim and Trump have exchanged letters.

When both leaders met on Sunday at the demilitarized zone, their exchanges were largely complimentary. Trump, who once referred to Kim as "little rocket man", called their friendship "particularly great" and said it was a "great day for the world".