North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sees little use in maintaining a personal relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump if Washington sticks to hostile policies, state media reported on Friday.
Libby Hogan reports.
North Korea says little reason to maintain Trump ties
North Korea says it sees little use in Kim Jong Un keeping up ties with with U.S President Donald Trump.
State media broadcast that statement Friday (June 12) the two-year anniversary of the leaders' first summit in Singapore.
It said if Washington sticks to quote 'hostile policies' the relationship was unlikely to lead to a diplomatic breakthrough.
It added that North Korea will develop more military forces as " U.S. policies prove Washington remains a long-term threat to the North Korean state." Trump and Kim Jung Un have a history of exchanging insults and threats.
In 2017 North Korea made large advances in its nuclear and missile program.
The U.S hit back and led an international effort to tighten sanctions targeting its shipping industry and companies that do business abroad.
The Singapore summit saw relations seemingly turn a corner when Trump and Kim walked in a garden together in images broadcast around the world.
There were a lot of handshakes and it all ended in four vague commitments which Trump touted as "honest, direct and productive." But a year later in Vietnam, they failed to reach a concrete deal.
Earlier in the week, North Korea also criticized the United States for commenting on affairs between the Koreas and said Washington should stay quiet if it wants this year's presidential elections to go smoothly.
The U.S. State Department and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.