By Reuters Staff

       2 Min Read

       FILE PHOTO: U.S. and North Korean national flags are seen at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

       SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is not considering any contact with the United States, Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon said on Wednesday.

       “We are not considering even the possibility of any contact with the U.S., let alone having it, which would get us nowhere, only taking up precious time,” Ri said in a statement carried on state media KCNA.

       His comments were made after the new U.S. envoy for North Korea said in Seoul on Monday that he looked forward to a “positive response soon” on dialogue from Pyongyang.

       North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme has been an intractable problem for Washington for years and in trying to change that, President Joe Biden’s administration conducted a review of policy and said it would seek “calibrated and practical” ways to persuade Pyongyang to denuclearise.

       On Tuesday, the sister of North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, said in a statement that the United States appeared to be interpreting signals from North Korea in the “wrong way”.

       Kim Yo Jong, who is a senior official in North Korea’s ruling party, was responding to U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who on Sunday said he saw as an “interesting signal” a recent speech by Kim Jong Un on preparing for both confrontation and diplomacy with the United States.

       Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Angus MacSwan

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