N. Korea says U.S. offer to explain outcome of policy review 'well received'

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is said to have acknowledged a recent U.S. offer to explain the outcome of its policy review on Pyongyang after earlier overtures from the administration of Joe Biden went unanswered.

In response to the U.S. offer last week, the North has reportedly said the proposal has been "well received," a different reaction from when the first dialogue offer was made. Last month, the U.S. said it had sought to engage with the North in mid-February, but the regime remained "unresponsive."

Still, whether it will lead to actual dialogue remains to be seen as the North earlier said it will ignore U.S. overtures until Washington gives up its hostility toward Pyongyang.

The U.S. announced the conclusion of its North Korea policy review on April 30.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki has said the new U.S. policy will not seek an all-or-nothing "grand bargain" deal with the North, prompting many to believe the new Biden administration may be open to a gradual or step-by-step approach to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Denuclearization negotiations between the U.S. and the North remained stalled since the second summit between then U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended without an agreement in Hanoi in 2019.

Their first summit took place in Singapore in 2018, in which the North committed to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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