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North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui (center) holds a press conference in Pyongyang on Mar. 15. (AP/Yonhap News)

Choe Son-hui, the North Korean first vice foreign minister who has emerged as a major figure in Pyongyang diplomacy, voiced open criticisms of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Choe also warned, “If the United States fails to reestablish its position within the timeline we gave, it will see truly undesired consequences.”

Her remarks appear to be part of a “blinking contest” being waged through press interviews by figures involved in denuclearization talks on the North Korean and US sides. North Korea previously demanded Pompeo’s replacement as a dialogue counterpart.

In response to questions on Apr. 30 from a reporter with North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Choe said, “Our will to achieve denuclearization remains unchanged and we will denuclearize in due time, but it can be possible only under the condition that the US changes its current way of calculation and re-establish its stance.”

“The ‘change of path’ mentioned by the US [. . .] is not a privilege that the US has but is our choice,” she added.

Choe’s remarks reaffirmed the commitment to denuclearization stated on several past occasions by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, moderating the language while at the same time pressuring the US to change its stance. The remarks’ presentation in the form of responses to a reporter’s questions – rather than a higher-level format such as a Foreign Ministry or spokesperson’s statement – is also being seen as a nod toward moderating the tone.

In her remarks on Apr. 30, Choe bluntly criticized Pompeo’s comments in a CBS interview on Apr. 24. Referring at the time to the denuclearization negotiation process with North Korea, Pompeo said, “If that breaks down, if that doesn't happen, then we'll have to, obviously, change paths.” His remarks were read as signaling that Washington planned to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through military pressure on Pyongyang rather than through dialogue-based negotiations.

“This is a very stupid and dangerous idea of breaking down our system by using military methods as [the US] cannot break us down with the maximum pressure and economic blockade,” Choe said.

Referring to Kim’s Apr. 13 policy speech at the first meeting of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly, Choe said the North Korean leader had set “a deadline for possible resolution of the nuclear issue, provided the US comes out with a proper calculation by the end of the year.”

She also stressed that Kim’s speech was meant as a “strong denunciation of [the US’] unilateral, bad-faith attitude,” while expressing that the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula would “depend on the US’ future attitude,” with North Korea “prepared for all eventualities.”

Choe previously criticized remarks by White House National Security Advisor John Bolton in another response to questions from a KCNA reporter 10 days earlier on Apr. 20. When asked in an Apr. 17 interview with Bloomberg what he hoped to see before a third North Korea-US summit, Bolton replied, “I think a real indication from North Korea that they’ve made the strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons.”

Following the interview’s publication, Choe said on Apr. 20 that “Bolton’s remarks make me wonder whether they sprang out of incomprehension of the intentions of the top leaders of the DPRK and the US or whether he was just trying to talk with a certain sense of humor for his part, with its own deviation.”

She also said Bolton’s comments “all sound uncharming and stupid” and cautioned the US that no good would come of making indiscriminate remarks.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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