STRAINED N.KOREA-U.S. RELATIONS

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North Korea has blasted the U.S. government's decision to keep it on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Pyongyang warned Washington that the window of dialogue is narrowing. Attention is focusing on whether North Korean and U.S. officials will hold talks at an upcoming international event in Russia slated for Thursday.

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After North Korea test-fired "super-large" multiple rocket launchers on October 31, the U.S. again kept the regime on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. North Korea was re-designated as a sponsor of terror in November 2017, nine years after it was removed from the list, and remains on it for this year. The spokesperson for the North's foreign ministry denounced Washington's decision as a grave political provocation. He said the United States insulted and betrayed the North at a sensitive time when nuclear talks between the two sides are at a stalemate. The North added that because of the U.S. government's attitude, the window of dialogue keeps narrowing. Pundits say Pyongyang is trying to step up pressure on Washington by showing that it could link the issue of terror sponsor designation to the denuclearization talks.

[Soundbite] YANG MOO-JIN(PROF., UNIVERSITY OF NORTH KOREAN STUDIES) : "Although the North appears to denounce its designation as a state sponsor of terror, it is trying to keep its criticism low by expressing its stance through the foreign ministry's spokesperson."

The Nonproliferation Conference scheduled for November 7 in Moscow, Russia will be attended by North Korea's foreign ministry official Jo Chol-su, who heads the North America Department. The U.S. side will be represented by the U.S. State Department's special envoy to North Korea Mark Lambert. The North Korean and U.S. officials will meet for the first time since the breakdown of working-level talks in Sweden early last month. Eyes will be on whether the two sides will resume working-level talks as the officials who are to attend the conference are also involved in the denuclearization negotiations.