U.S. Sanctions Called Hurdle to Nuclear Talks

North Korea said today it can’t return to nuclear disarmament talks unless the U.S. lifts recently imposed sanctions.

“While under U.S. sanctions, it’s impossible to sit face to face and discuss abandoning our nuclear deterrent ... with a counterpart who seeks to isolate and stifle us,” said the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party, in a commentary carried by the nation’s official news agency.

This fall, the U.S. placed sanctions on a Macao-based bank it accuses of helping North Korea distribute fake currency and on eight northern companies it said were proliferating weapons.