North Korea offered realistic proposal but United States asked for more: foreign minister

North Korea made a realistic proposal at a summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump but Washington insisted Pyongyang take one more step beyond dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear complex, North Korea’s foreign minister said on Friday.

Minister Ri Yong Ho told a news conference that Pyongyang had offered to permanently dismantle all its nuclear material production including plutonium and uranium observed by U.S. experts.

Ri added North Korea asked Washington to life partial sanctions, not entirely, contradicting Trump’s claim earlier.

Trump said he had walked away from a nuclear deal at the Hanoi summit on Thursday because of unacceptable demands from the North Korean leader to lift U.S.-led sanctions.

Reporting by Ju-min Park and James Pearson; Editing by Angus MacSwan