US Envoy Offers To Meet North Korea "Anywhere Anytime"

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un had last week said that Pyongyang must prepare for both "dialogue and confrontation".

The US special representative for North Korea on Monday offered to meet with Pyongyang "anywhere, anytime, without preconditions", with no public contact so far between the Biden administration and the nuclear-armed nation. Sung Kim's remarks came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week gave his first reaction to Washington's recent review of its approach to his isolated country, saying Pyongyang must prepare for both "dialogue and confrontation". The Biden administration has previously promised a "practical, calibrated approach", including diplomatic efforts, to persuade the impoverished North to give up its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. "We continue to hope that the DPRK will respond positively to our outreach, and our offer to meet anywhere anytime without preconditions," US envoy Kim said during a five-day visit to Washington's ally South Korea, referring to the North by its official name.