North Korea's foreign minister has urged the United States to move past what he called seven decades of entrenched hostility if the countries' stalled negotiations are to restart.
Boiling the diplomatic standoff down to North Korea's deepening feeling of mistrust, Ri Yong Ho sought to lay out a vision of peace on the troubled Korean Peninsula - provided North Korea gets what it wants from the United States.
Ri told the United Nations general assembly in New York that North Korea is ready to implement the points that leader Kim Jong-Un and US President Donald Trump agreed to in their June summit.
But his comments seemed infused with impatience at the slow pace of progress in a process the world hopes will cause Pyongyang to abandon an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles.
In recent weeks, Kim Jong-Un has said he would permanently dismantle North Korea's main nuclear complex, but only if the US takes unspecified corresponding measures.
Kim has also promised to accept international inspectors to monitor the closing of a key missile test site and launch pad.
North Korea, however, doesn't "see any corresponding response" from Washington.
On the contrary, Ri said, the United States is increasing pressure and sanctions.
"The perception that sanctions can bring us on our knees is a pipe dream of the people who are ignorant of us," Ri said.
He said the continued sanctions are "deepening our mistrust" and deadlocking the current diplomacy.
"Without any trust in the US, there will be no confidence in our national security," he said, adding that "under such circumstances there is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first".
There was no immediate response from Washington. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week he would return to Pyongyang to set up a sequel to the Singapore meeting between Kim and Trump.
