‘US ready for talks with North Korea’

The US is ready for a dialogue with North Korea, only if it is prepared for genuine negotiations, Vice-President Joe Biden has said.

Biden’s remarks came yesterday after a recent offer by North Korea to have talks with US.

“North Korea is calling for dialogue. As my mother would say, I’ve seen this movie before. We’ve been there before. But we are ready, but only, only if North Korea’s prepared to engage in genuine negotiations,” Biden said.

He said that US would not support “North Korea’s pattern of provoking a crisis and then insisting they be rewarded in order to cease and desist from the actions they are taking.’’

“We’ve been there before, only to find that once they’ve gotten the space or the aid they need, they return to the same provocative, dangerous behaviour and continue their nuclear march,” he said.

Biden said there was consensus in the international community that the North Korean nuclear missile programme present a clear danger to stability in the area.

“That’s why we’re working closely with our allies, Japan and South Korea, but we’re also working, more closely than in the 40 years, with China and with Russia,” he said.

Biden said the US welcomes China’s desire to have a denuclearised Korean peninsula.

“In light of North Korea’s recent provocative behaviour, we welcome President Xi’s important statement, achieving a denuclearised Korean Peninsula — as that being a Chinese priority,” Biden said.