Just days after a U.S. envoy publicly called on North Korea to resume talks, Pyongyang on Saturday lashed out at Washington and said the Trump administration could “pay dearly” for what it described as “malicious words” about human rights. The statement, published by state news agency KCNA and made by a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson, was apparently in response to the United Nations General Assembly denouncing Pyongyang’s “long-standing” human rights violations earlier this week in a resolution backed by the U.S. Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, met with officials in Beijing, Seoul, and Tokyo earlier this week as part of efforts to defuse tensions with North Korea and return to the negotiating table. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has set an end-of-the-year deadline for the U.S. to offer new concessions and revive denuclearization talks, but Pyongyang has reportedly not responded so far to overtures made from Washington.