North Korea said it has no interest in meeting with Vice President Mike Pence while he is in South Korea for the Winter Olympics.
“We are not going to use such sports festival as the Winter Olympics as a political lever. There is no need to do so. The U.S. had better act with discretion, well aware that its imprudent word and deeds will only show itself in a more awkward position,” Jo Yong Sam, department director general of the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK told North Korean state-run media.
Vice President Mike Pence will be attending the Olympic Games, which are scheduled for Feb. 9-25 in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The vice president’s decision to lead the U.S. delegation comes as North Korea announced after an 11-hour meeting with South Korea that they would be sending a delegation to the games. (RELATED: Pence Will Lead US Delegation To Winter Olympics)
White House adviser Ivanka Trump will also be attending the games. She will lead the U.S. presidential delegation at the closing ceremony after she was reportedly asked by her father, President Donald Trump, and the U.S. Olympic Committee. But, North Korea has said it has no interest in speaking to any U.S. officials.
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“We have never begged for dialogue with the U.S. nor in the future, too. 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,” Sam continued.
Trump met with eight defectors, one of whom is North Korean defector Ji Seong-ho, who the president invited to the State Of The Union Address on Friday. The visit focused on human rights abuses in North Korea.
The 2018 Winter Olympics run from Feb. 9 through Feb. 25.
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