A senior foreign ministry official for North Korea warned the country could resume “building up nuclear forces” if Washington refused to ease crippling sanctions.
The thinly-veiled threat came as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo prepared to meet North Korean counterpart Kim Yong Chol in New York.
The official, quoted by North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA, accused Washington of believing the “foolish idea Pyongyang came out to the negotiating table, yielding to the sanctions” and failing to understand that “the improvement of relations and sanctions are incompatible”.
Mr Pompeo dismissed the remarks as “stray voltage” and said he was unconcerned about rhetoric from North Korean media.
He said: ”We know with whom we’re negotiating. We know what their positions are. And President Trump has made his position very clear: no economic relief until we have achieved our ultimate objective.”
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Experts warn the hardline negotiating positions staked out by both sides have resulted in a protracted stalemate.
North Korea says it is only willing to give up its nuclear weapons once a peaceful and trusting relationship with the US has been established but Washington is only willing to form such a relationship after it gives up its weapons.
Adam Mount, a senior fellow and the director of the Defence Posture Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said this type of posturing could easily spiral out of control.
He said: “This is a more direct threat to collapse talks and resume the nuclear program at full speed than we’ve seen since negotiations since started.
“So in that regards it’s a shift from their previous position.”
But he acknowledged taking hardline positions in state media ahead of diplomatic meetings was a classic tactic from Pyongyang.
He said: ”It’s a clear play for leverage, it’s a clear play to set the agenda in the upcoming round of diplomacy, but there’s still a very real risk that it does seriously damage the negotiation process.”
North Korea insists it has taken steps toward denuclearisation but experts say Pyongyang’s moves have been largely cosmetic and are easily reversible.
Duyeon Kim, a fellow at the Centre for a New American Security and expert on North Korea and nuclear nonproliferation issues, said: “What’s needed most right now is a real nuclear deal – a denuclearisation roadmap lined up with a peace process so that both sides have predictability.
“They shouldn’t be negotiating in pieces as they arise.”