WASHINGTON - After months of sanctions and threats, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has shown no interest in talks on giving up its nuclear weapons, the U.S. State Department said Saturday.
"North Korean (DPRK) officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization," U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement.
Nauert reiterated that the United States is not interested in "promoting the collapse of the current regime, pursuing regime change, accelerating reunification of the peninsula or mobilizing forces north of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)."
The statement came after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed during a visit to China that the United States has direct channels of communication with the DPRK.
"We have lines of communications to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation or a blackout. We have a couple of direct channels to Pyongyang. We can talk to them ... We've made it clear that we hope to resolve this through talks," Tillerson said.
At a congressional hearing on Thursday, U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton said the purpose of putting pressure on the DPRK was to bring it back to negotiations on denuclearization.

China commended the U.S. commitment to resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Friday, calling on Washington to convert its resolve into concrete actions. (Xinhua)