* Senior official says not interested in meaningless talks
* Another envoy travelling to Russia is at forefront of U.S. talks
* Kim Jong Un’s year-end deadline important to N.Korea-analyst (Recasts, changes dateline, adds analyst comment)
SEOUL, Nov 18 (Reuters) – North Korea said on Monday it was not interested in meaningless talks with the United States just so President Donald Trump had something to brag about, urging an end to what it called a policy of hostility if the United States wanted dialogue. The comment by senior North Korean official Kim Kye Gwan, who is a former vice foreign minister, came after Trump on the weekend called on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to “act quickly” and hinted at another meeting.
Kim, in a statement carried by the state KCNA news agency, said he had seen the Nov. 17 Twitter post by Trump signalling another summit but added that little had improved despite three meetings between the two leaders since June last year.
“We no longer have interest in talks that have no benefit for us,” he said. “We will not give anything for the U.S. president to brag about as we have received nothing in return, and we want to receive the benefits of the accomplishments that President Trump is crediting himself for,” Kim said. Trump and North Korean leader Kim met for the first time in a landmark summit in Singapore in June last year, to push forward negotiations the United States hopes will lead to North Korea’s dismantling of its nuclear and missile programmes, in exchange for the lifting of punishing international sanctions. The talks have made no significant progress since a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un collapsed in Vietnam in February, even though the two leaders agreed in June, at a third meeting, to reopen negotiations. In April, Kim set a year-end deadline for the United States to show more flexibility, raising concern North Korea could resume nuclear and long-range missile testing, which it has suspended since 2017. Kim Kye Gwan said the United States must make a decisive move to abandon its hostile policy if it genuinely wanted dialogue. He did not elaborate. In his Twitter message, Trump urged Kim Jong Un, to “get the deal done”, signing off “See you soon!”. The message came hours after the United States and South Korea announced they were postponing military exercises in an effort to bolster the stalled peace push. Working-level talks between the two sides in October ended with the North Korean envoy accusing the Americans of coming to the table empty-handed. While North Korea wants the sanctions lifted, the United States has insisted Kim must dismantle his nuclear weapons programme first. Nick Note: the last few countries that gave up their WMD’s deeply regretted it! Kim is to smart to fall for that shit!