Image: Yonhap News
North Korea has stressed again it has no intention of holding talks with the United States.
Kwon Jong-gun, an official who handles U.S. affairs at Pyongyang's foreign ministry, reiterated the regime's position in a statement carried Tuesday by the North's Korean Central News Agency.
He also said South Korea's efforts to be a mediator will be proved futile.
The remarks came amid speculation that Washington's top nuclear envoy Stephen Biegun could meet with his North Korean counterpart, First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui this week.
Biegun is set to arrive in Seoul Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier, Choe made clear the regime will not sit down for a meeting with the U.S., accusing it of taking advantage of dialogue between the two countries as "a tool for grappling its political crisis."
Dialogue between the two sides has been at a standstill since U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a summit in Hanoi in 2018, which ended without a deal on denuclearization.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in recently said he would push for another Trump-Kim meeting before the U.S. presidential election in November.
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