North Korea moved to divide President Donald Trump from his national security team Thursday, issuing a statement slamming U.S. policies towards Pyongyang but notably absolving the American leader.
The regime claimed it was living up to its side of the bargain struck with the U.S. at the Singapore summit in June, taking “such practical denuclearization steps as discontinuing nuclear test and ICBM test fire,” as well as the goodwill gesture of returning the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the Korean War.
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The U.S. had responded, it said, with the “despicable action” of pushing for more sanctions, a move North Korea blamed on the U.S.’s “servile mouthpieces and intelligence institutions” that have been mobilized to “fabricate all kinds of falsehoods on our nuclear issue.”
Issued on behalf of North Korea’s mission to the UN, the statement also accused the U.S. of preventing Pyongyang from cooperating with other international organizations in the field of sports, and of stopping countries from sending high-level delegations to the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Korea, which falls on Sept. 9.
But the missive was careful not to fault Trump, claiming his own administration is undermining the president’s attempts to forge closer relations with Kim.
“Going against the intention of President Trump to advance the DPRK-U.S. relations, who is expressing gratitude to our goodwill measures for implementing the DPRK-U.S. joint statement, some high-level officials within the U.S. administration are making baseless allegations against us and making desperate attempts at intensifying the international sanctions and pressure,” the statement read.
READ: The remains returned by North Korea are “likely American” — but they could take decades to identify
North Korea’s rhetoric is likely a response to comments made by Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton earlier this week. “What we really need is not more rhetoric,” Bolton told Fox News. “What we need is performance from North Korea on denuclearization.”
The U.S. and other countries are seeking complete denuclearization before lifting economic sanctions against North Korea, but Pyongyang is unsurprisingly unwilling to give up its nuclear arsenal — and many experts believe Kim has no intention forgoing such hard-won assets.
Thursday’s statement warned that if the U.S. “clings to the outdated acting script which the previous administrations have all tried and failed, one cannot expect any progress.”
Rather than wind down its nuclear activity, recent evidence suggests North Korea is continuing to develop its nuclear capabilities despite the loose agreement made in Singapore.
Images published Thursday by analysts at 38 North shows that North Korea is still working on its nuclear reactor site at Yongbyon. This comes days after a leaked UN report said North Korea had not stopped its nuclear and missile programs, violating sanctions.
Reports last month claimed that Pyongyang was actually increasing nuclear production at a secret nuclear site and the regime was close to completing a major expansion of a key missile-manufacturing plant.
Cover image: North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un looks at his document at a signing ceremony with US President Donald Trump (not pictured) during their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
