‘Emboldened’ by its Russia, China ties, North Korea rejects US calls for talks: ‘Pyongyang can bide its time’

Pyongyang historically only negotiates when it feels weak – but that isn’t the case with two of the five UN Security Council members on its side

Analysts say the only way for talks to proceed is if Washington drops its push for complete denuclearisation, which North Korea has ‘flatly rejected’

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their September meeting at a space centre in Russia’s far east. Photo: Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Published: 4:00pm, 18 Dec 2023Updated: 4:49pm, 18 Dec 2023

North Korea’s refusal to negotiate with the United States should come as no surprise, analysts say, as the reclusive regime has been “emboldened” by its growing ties with Russia and China – and only engages in talks with Washington when it feels “weak”.

“The Kim regime feels that it has secured Russian support in addition to essential sustenance from the PRC,” said Nah Liang Tuang, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, using the initialism for China’s official name.

“Hence it is relatively stronger and sees no need to talk to the US. Pyongyang never negotiates if it feels strong.”

North Korea displays what it said were Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missiles during a military parade in February. Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

North Korea dismissed US calls for a return to diplomacy late last month after criticising Washington’s condemnation of its recent spy satellite launch.

US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield had called the launch “reckless”, “unlawful” and a threat to South Korea at a UN Security Council meeting, where she also reiterated that Washington’s offer for dialogue came without preconditions, with Pyongyang able to “choose the timing and topic”.

North Korea gave the offer short shrift, however, saying that “the sovereignty of an independent state can never be an agenda item for negotiations”, adding that it “will never sit face to face with the US for that purpose.”

Nah said the move reflected Pyongyang’s propensity to only negotiate in moments of “weaknesses”, such as after its first nuclear test in 2006 when it attempted to “strike a grand bargain with Washington” amid “Soviet abandonment and famines”.

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