N korean leader

WEB DESK

A high-ranking North Korean official has indicated that the North could reconsider its planned summit talks with the United States.

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, the North’s vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, denounced remarks made by US Vice President Mike Pence in a media interview earlier this week. Pence said the US is not ruling out military options in dealing with Pyongyang.

Choe said North Korea will not beg the US for dialogue. She said whether the US will meet the North at a meeting room or encounter it in a nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely up to the decision and behavior of the US.

Choe went on to say that if the US offends the North’s goodwill and clings to unlawful and outrageous acts, she could suggest to the supreme leadership that North Korea reconsider the summit set for June 12th in Singapore.

Last week, North Korea’s first vice minister of foreign affairs, Kim Kye Gwan, also hinted at calling off the summit.