Washington wants ‘reliable, predictable, constructive’ dialog with Pyongyang

Seoul, Jul 21 (EFE).- The United States wants a “reliable, predictable and constructive” dialog process with North Korea, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Friday, despite Pyongyang recently rejecting US offers to resume denuclearization negotiations.

“We are looking forward to a reliable, predictable, constructive way forward with the DPRK,” Sherman said at a press conference in Seoul after meeting with her South Korean counterpart, Choi Jong-kun.

Despite the offer made by the administration of US President Joe Biden to resume dialog “anywhere, anytime without preconditions,” North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon said last month that his country is “not considering even the possibility of any contact with the US, let alone having it, which would get us nowhere, only taking up precious time.”

The regime is focused on fighting the pandemic and its devastating economic effects, and many experts rule out that it will show intention to resume diplomacy, which has been stalled since 2019, anytime soon.

Sherman acknowledged that the Asian country is “facing all the most difficult circumstances given the pandemic, and what it means as well for their food security.”

“We only hope for a better outcome for the people of the DPRK.”

Asked about the role of China, the main economic supporter of the regime and the closest thing to an ally that North Korea has, to achieve the denuclearization of Pyongyang, the diplomat said that it is “certainly an area for cooperation.”

“We look forward to having that discussion as part of the meetings that we will have,” she added, referring to her visit to the Chinese city of Tianjin on July 25 and 26, where she will meet with the Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other officials.

Sherman’s tour of the region seeks to strengthen communication with her allies in East Asia, weakened during the previous US administration, and to also try to strengthen a common front in the face of the growing Chinese military push in the region.

Sherman will fly to Mongolia Friday for three days before heading to China. EFE

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