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Despite three Kim-Trump summits since June 2018, talks between the two capitals on denuclearization are at an impasse. REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque /

This Saturday, January 11, 2020, North Korea warned that it would not resume negotiations on its nuclear program with Washington unless the United States gave their "full agreement " to its demands.

Quoted by the official KCNA agency, Kim Kye Gwan, an adviser to the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that Pyongyang had received the letter from Donald Trump wishing Kim Jong-un a happy birthday. But the adviser immediately warned that it would be " unreasonable " to hope that Pyongyang would resume talks only because " personal relationships are not bad " between the two leaders.

Skepticism

The United States must first give its "full agreement " on the points raised by Pyongyang in previous discussions between the two countries, he said again. This North Korean adviser was also skeptical of the possibility of a positive response from Washington, saying that " we know that the United States is neither ready nor able to do so ".

Despite three Kim-Trump summits since June 2018, the last of which was in February 2019, talks between the two capitals on denuclearization are at an impasse. Kim Jong-un even announced on January 1 the end of the moratorium on nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missiles and promised a " staggering " action against the United States. Pyongyang had however declared in 2018 that North Korea no longer needed nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

Six nuclear tests

In previous years, North Korea has carried out six nuclear tests and launched missiles capable of reaching all of the continental United States.

( with AFP )

► North Korea: faced with Kim, Trump's diplomatic strategy turns sour