North Korea says high-level talks with a US delegation led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were "regrettable" and has accused Washington of trying to unilaterally pressure the country into abandoning its nukes.
The statement by an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday came hours after Pompeo concluded two days of talks with North Korean officials led by Kim Yong Chol.
The statement says that the United States betrayed the spirit of last month's summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by making unilateral demands on "CVID," or the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of North Korea.
It says the outcome of the follow-up talks was "very concerning" because it has led to a "dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearisation that had been firm."
Pompeo wrapped up two days of talks with senior North Korean officials without meeting Kim Jong-un but with commitments for new discussions on denuclearisation and the repatriation of the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean War.
Before departing Pyongyang on Saturday, Pompeo told reporters that his conversations with senior Kim Yong Chol had been "productive," conducted "in good faith" and that "a great deal of progress" had been made in some areas.
But he stressed "there's still more work to be done" in other areas, much of which would be done by working groups that the two sides have set up to deal with specific issues.
Pompeo said that a Pentagon team would be meeting with North Korean officials on or about July 12 at the border between North and South Korea to discuss the repatriation of remains and that working level talks would be held soon on the destruction of North Korea's missile engine testing facility.
