North Korea has no plans to seek dialogue with U.S. officials at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang this week, dashing hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough. “We have never begged for dialogue with the United States and it will be the same going forward,” Cho Yong Sam, the head of the foreign ministry’s North American department, was quoted as saying by state-run news agency KCNA. “To be clear, we have no intention of meeting the U.S. side during our visit to South Korea,” he said. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the U.S. delegation in Pyeongchang, initially suggested he’d be willing to meet with North Korean officials but took a harsher stance late Wednesday, calling North Korea “the most tyrannical and oppressive regime on the planet.” While the two sides have no plans to meet, it may prove difficult to avoid running into each other, as Pence will reportedly be seated just meters away from Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, at the Opening Ceremony on Friday.
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