U.S. Is Accountable for Rupture of Hanoi Summit Talks: DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesperson

Pyongyang, May 24 (KCNA) -- A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA on May 24, as regards the attempt revealing within the United States to impute to the DPRK the cause for the rupture of the Hanoi DPRK-U.S. summit talks:

As we have stated before, the underlying cause of setback of the DPRK-U.S. summit talks in Hanoi is the arbitrary and dishonest position taken by the United States, insisting on a method which is totally impossible to get through.

For the sake of building confidence, a main key to an alleviation of the DPRK-U.S. hostile relations, we took crucial and meaningful measures of a strategically decisive nature including the discontinuation of nuclear test and test-fire of intercontinental ballistic missile, and we also took a broadminded step towards the realization of the repatriation of the American POW/MIA remains.

However, the United States did not respond to our goodwill measures in the same manner, but deliberately pushed the talks to a rupture by merely claiming the unilateral disarmament of the DPRK.

Notwithstanding the above facts, the United States attempts to ascribe the setback of the DPRK-U.S. summit talks in Hanoi to a completely irrelevant issue and to impute the responsibility for the ruptured talks to the DPRK. Such American ulterior intention definitely needs to be brought to the attention.

We hereby make it clear once again that the United States would not be able to move us even an inch with the device it is now weighing in its mind, and the further its mistrust and hostile acts towards the DPRK grow, the fiercer our reaction will be.

Unless the United States puts aside the current method of calculation and comes forward with a new method of calculation, the DPRK-U.S. dialogue will never be resumed and by extension, the prospect for resolving the nuclear issue will be much gloomy.

The U.S. would be well advised to wake up to reality and learn anew how to have dialogue and negotiation. -0-