The U.S. dismissed a claim by North Korea's top nuclear negotiator that talks broke down over the weekend due to Washington's alleged failure to come up with new proposals regarding Pyongyang's denuclearization.
North Korea's top nuclear envoy, Kim Myong Gil, said negotiations with his U.S. counterpart on Oct. 5 in Sweden ended in failure, and that it is up to Washington whether additional talks should be held, according to a report from South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said the comments from North Korea's delegation "do not reflect the content or the spirit" of the "good discussions" held on Oct. 5.
Ortagus said the U.S. proposed "creative ideas" and "previewed a number of new initiatives" that could pave the way for progress in the negotiations. It also agreed to hold further talks in Sweden in two weeks.
North Korea launched a missile Oct. 2, a day after North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui announced that Pyongyang and Washington were restarting working-level nuclear talks.
In February, a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un concluded without an agreement on how to end Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.
