North Korea’s Foreign Minister told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Saturday that continued sanctions were deepening the state’s mistrust of the US.
Ri Yong-ho said there was no way the country would give up its nuclear weapons unilaterally under such circumstances.
The official told the UNGA that North Korea had taken “significant goodwill measures” over the past year, such as stopping nuclear and missiles tests, dismantling the nuclear test site, and promising not to increase their amount of nuclear weapons and nuclear technology.
Mr Yong-ho said: “However, we do not see any corresponding response from the US.
“The perception that sanctions can bring us on our knees is a pipe dream of the people who are ignorant of us.”
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He added that the continued sanctions are “deepening our mistrust” and creating a deadlock in current diplomatic relations.
In a direct attack on the US, he said: “Without any trust in the US, there will be no confidence in our national security.
“Under such circumstances, there is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first.”
Kim Jong-un’s state has repeatedly appealed for UN and US sanctions to be lifted.
However, Donald Trump’s administration has said the sanctions should stay in place until North Korea denuclearises.
The Republican firebrand met Kim Jong-un at a landmark summit in June, which saw Kim promise to work towards nuclear disarmament.
However, very little progress has been made since then.
The agreement in Singapore did not give any timeline, details or mechanisms to verify the process of denuclearisation.
However, earlier this month South Korean leader Moon Jae-in visited Pyongyang – the first South Korean leader to do so in over a decade.
Mr Moon said he had been “able to confirm Chairman Kim’s firm commitment to complete denuclearisation” and the dictator had also said he wanted to meet President Trump again soon.
Kim also promised to dismantle North Korea’s main missile testing and launching site, and said he could decommission the main nuclear test site if the US took some mutual action.
President Trump has said he expects to have a second summit with Kim in the “not too distant future”.