North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced on Friday August 8 that Pyongyang will resume talks with the United States only if Washington recognizes the country as a permanent nuclear power.
The position, quoted by Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, marks a significant shift in Pyongyang’s diplomatic approach.
Former American diplomat Ned Price, in an online forum hosted by the Korea-America Studies Institute, considered these statements a sign of North Korea’s hardening stance, saying that Pyongyang no longer left the door open for denuclearization and had made recognition of its nuclear status a precondition for negotiations.
This new North Korean condition comes as tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen due to Pyongyang’s recent missile tests, including the Hwasong-15 ballistic missile, which is capable of hitting the US mainland.
