US says the North Korean leader’s comments are “an interesting sign”

The United States said on Sunday it considered this week’s comments by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un an “interesting sign” in which he said he was open to “dialogue and confrontation”, but that Washington was still waiting a direct communication from Pyongyang to initiate talks towards the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

“We consider your comments this week an interesting sign and we will wait to see if they are followed by some more direct communication to us about a possible way forward,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in an interview with ABC News.

“What President Biden has communicated is that the United States is prepared to enter into principled negotiations with North Korea to address the challenge of the North Korean nuclear program towards the ultimate goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” Sullivan said in the interview.

Kim ordered his government to prepare “for both dialogue and confrontation” with the United States, state media reported on Friday, in its first reaction to the Biden administration’s new policy on North Korea.