North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, right, said Saturday Pyongyang does not have imminent plans to talks with the U.S. Her statement is believed to a part of Pyongyang's measure to ramp up pressure on Washington ahead of a visit of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, left, to South Korea slated from Tuesday to Thursday. Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

North Korea reiterated that it will not talk with the United States as long as the latter sticks to hostile policies and attempts use dialogue as a "tool for grappling with its political crisis."

The statement by the North's First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, Saturday, appears to be a move to ramp up pressure on the U.S. ahead of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun's visit to South Korea slated for Tuesday to Thursday.

Also the U.S. special representative for North Korea, Biegun will come here after U.S. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton last week hinted at another summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before the U.S. presidential election in November.

This will be Biegun's first South Korea visit since December, fueling speculation over his message on Pyongyang's denuclearization.

Biegun separately said last week the Trump-Kim summit is "probably unlikely" before the election but added Washington is prepared for "engagement between the two sides."

Frustrated by the faltered nuclear negotiations despite three Trump-Kim meetings from 2018 to 2019, the North rather has been backing away from the dialogue and has been ratcheting up military threats.

"Is it possible to hold a dialogue or have any dealings with the U.S. which persists in the hostile policy toward the DPRK in disregard of the agreements already made at the past summit?" Choe said, referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "We do not feel any need to sit face-to-face with the U.S., as it considers the DPRK-U.S. dialogue as nothing more than a tool for grappling with its political crisis."

Choe added the U.S. is mistaken if it thinks "negotiations would still work on us" and that the North has already "worked out a detailed strategic timetable for putting under control the long-term threat from the U.S."

"The North wants to make sure through Biegun's visit that it will no longer be fooled by the U.S. denuclearization goal," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.

Yang referred to the U.S. rejection of the North's demand to lift sanctions before Pyongyang would begin any denuclearization.

He speculated the door remains open for tension between the North and the U.S., with the former's state-controlled media highlighting the third anniversary of the launch of its Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the U.S. Independence Day, Saturday.

The missile is believed capable of reaching anywhere in the U.S. mainland.

Yang said Choe's statement was also aimed at sending a message to President Moon Jae-in who nominated experts on North Korea, Friday, to lead his diplomatic and national security teams.

The measure was seen as an effort to push harder for Moon's North Korea policy amid soured inter-Korean relations.