North Korea Says Nuclear Talks With US Have Broken Off. US Insists They Haven’t.

HANOI, VIETNAM - FEBRUARY 28: A handout photo of U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) during their second summit meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel on February 28, 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam. U.S President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un abruptly cut short their two-day summit in Vietnam as talks broke down and both leaders failed to reach an agreement on nuclear disarmament. Trump said in a press conference on Thursday that the United States was unwilling to lift all sanctions and no plans had been made for a third summit. (Photo by Vietnam News Agency/Handout/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their second summit meeting on February 28, 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Photo by Vietnam News Agency/Handout/Getty Images)
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North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator Kim Myong Gil said on Saturday that nuclear negotiations with the U.S. have broken off–but the U.S. says otherwise.

After a meeting with U.S diplomat Stephen Biegun in Sweden, Kim told reporters that the talks had failed because the U.S. had shown up “empty-handed.”

“The negotiation did not live up to our expectations and broke down,” Kim said, according to South Korean news outlet Yonhap News Agency. “I am very displeased.”

“It is entirely because the U.S. has not discarded its old stance and attitude that the negotiation this time failed to produce any results,” he continued.

The situation has “sapped our appetite for negotiations” as a result, the North Korean envoy said.

However, the Trump administration apparently doesn’t agree with Kim’s assessment of the meeting.

“The early comments from the DPRK delegation do not reflect the content or the spirit of today’s 8 1/2 hour discussion,” State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. “The U.S. brought creative ideas and had good discussions with its DPRK counterparts.”

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