TEHRAN, February 8 - North Korea has no intention of meeting U.S officials during the Winter Olympics that start in South Korea on Friday, state media reported, dampening hopes the Games will help resolve a tense standoff over the North's nuclear weapons program.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who described North Korea as the world's most tyrannical regime on Wednesday, flies in to South Korea on Thursday ahead of the opening ceremony in the mountain resort of Pyeongchang, just 80 km (50 miles) from the heavily armed border with North Korea.
The ceremony will also be attended by a senior delegation of North Korean officials, including the younger sister of leader Kim Jong Un and the North's nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam.
The sister, Kim Yo Jong, and other members of her entourage will travel by private jet to Seoul's Incheon International Airport on Friday afternoon, North Korea informed the South on Thursday.
However the prospect of talks, which Pence downplayed but left open, appeared slim.
"We have never begged for dialogue with the U.S. nor in the future, too," the North's KCNA news agency reported on Thursday, citing Jo Yong Sam, director-general of the North American department of North Korea's foreign ministry.
"Explicitly speaking, we have no intention to meet with the U.S. side during the stay in South Korea ... Our delegation's visit to South Korea is only to take part in the Olympics and hail its successful holding," Jo said.
Pence had said after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Wednesday that Washington would soon unveil "the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever".
He said before departing for Seoul the United States wanted to peacefully dismantle North Korea's nuclear program but warned Pyongyang not to underestimate U.S. military strength or resolve.
Source: Reuters
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