US urged to create 'right' conditions for talks with N Korea

The United States should create the "right" conditions if it wanted talks with North Korea, according to a pro-North Korean newspaper based in Japan on Thursday.

Newspaper Choson Sinbo claimed that Pyongyang had never begged for talks with Washington D.C., the Yonhap news agency reported.

The possibility of talks between the two countries surfaced after senior North Korean official Kim Yong-chol said during a meeting with South Korean officials that Pyongyang was willing to hold talks with Washington D.C.

US President Donald Trump said in response that talks were possible "only under the right conditions."

"If talks are possible only under the right conditions just as Trump said, the US should create those conditions," according to the newspaper.

The paper also accused the US of misleading the international community into thinking that North Korea was begging for talks after "giving in" to sanctions under pressure.

"The reality is completely different. Trump should explore ways to hold talks with North Korea if he wants to avoid armed conflicts with the nuclear-armed North," the newspaper added.

"The Trump administration should keep in mind that unless it makes the decision to give up its reckless hostile policy, it won't be given a dialogue opportunity," the newspaper said.

Last Friday, the US slapped new sanctions on North Korea, targeting 56 vessels, shipping companies, and trade businesses, of which Chinese firms and personnel are involved.

It also included a Taiwanese citizen named Tsang Yung Yuan in the list, who has coordinated North Korea coal exports with a Russia-based North Korean broker. Tsang has a record of sanctions evasion activities, according to the US Treasury Department.

In an advisory, the Treasury Department, the US State Department and the US Coast Guard also warned the public of significant sanctions they could face if they help to enable any shipments of goods to and from North Korea.

The advisory has also alerted the industries of North Korea's deceptive shipping practices.

The US and North Korea have long been engaged in back-and-forth barbs over the latter's threat of a nuclear attack, ever since Trump became the President last year.

Trump threatened to rain "fire and fury" on North Korea and also called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a "Little Rocket Man", while North Korea denounced Trump as a "mentally deranged" US dotard.