North Korea on Sunday said it's running out of patience with the United States over what it described as hostile policies and unilateral disarmament demands, and warned that a close personal relationship between the leaders alone wouldn't be enough to prevent nuclear diplomacy from derailing.
In a statement published by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol said there has been no substantial progress in relations despite warm ties between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.
He said the persisting hostility means "there can be the exchange of fire at any moment."
The North expressed its displeasure with a flurry of short-range missile tests while Kim said he would "wait with patience until the end of the year for the United States to come up with a courageous decision."
Washington and Pyongyang resumed working-level discussion in Sweden earlier this month, but the meeting broke down amid acrimony with the North Koreans calling the talks "sickening" and accusing the Americans of maintaining an "old stance and attitude."