Biden does not intend to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

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North Korea said on Monday that the UN Security Council showed a double standard as its sanctions committee criticized the country's recent missile test as a violation of UN resolutions.
US President Joe Biden (left) said the US remained open to diplomacy with North Korea despite the tests. PHOTOS: AFP/KCNA

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - US President Joe Biden does not intend to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the White House said on Monday (March 29).

Asked if Biden's diplomatic approach to North Korea would include "sitting with President Kim Jong Un" as former President Donald Trump had done, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, "I think his approach would be quite different and that is not his intention," she said.

North Korea launched a new type of tactical short-range ballistic missile last week, prompting Washington to request a gathering of the UN Security Council's (UNSC) sanctions committee, which then criticised the test.

Biden on Thursday said the United States remained open to diplomacy with North Korea despite the tests, but warned there would be responses if North Korea escalates matters.

North Korea on Saturday said the Biden administration had taken a wrong first step and revealed "deep-seated hostility" by criticising what it called a self-defensive missile test.

Trump had three high-profile meetings with Kim, and exchanged a series of letters, but relations later grew frosty, and the nuclear-armed state said it would not engage further unless the United States dropped its hostile policies.

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