North Korea giving no response to US outreach attempts: Report
Mar 14, 2021
Pyongyang [North Korea] March 14 : Washington's Policy review on North Korea remains stalled, as no response was received from Pyongyang, since a year of the denuclearization talks with the US government. North Korea remains unresponsive even after trying several threads to communicate, cited a senior US administration official to CNN.
The official also added, "To reduce the risks of escalation, we reached out to the North Korean government through several channels starting in mid-February, including in New York, we have not received any response from Pyongyang, despite multiple attempts by the US to engage."
The US senior did not provide further details of what the outreach entailed but noted the administration has been conducting its interagency review of the United States' policy towards North Korea, "including evaluation of all available options to address the increasing threat posed by North Korea to its neighbours and the broader international community," the CNN said.
Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Affairs for the State Department Sung Kim said Washington will complete its policy review on North Korea in the coming week.
Sung said, "a planned schedule was made, with officials of Tokyo and Seoul, on the due date of March 16 to 18, to provide a policy review prepared by the US Presidential administrations of North Korea by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to his counterpart." A possible input was expected before the review finalization, which remains unattended now.
According to CNN, Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are expected to discuss matters concerning North Korea's nuclear weapons program, among other topics, during their trip to Japan and South Korea.
Former US President Donald Trump held three summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, however, the two sides never achieved a breakthrough on denuclearization due to a deadlock on sanctions relief sources revealed.
