U.S. has no intention to resume North Korea six-party talks

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The United States has no intention of resuming the cooperative six-party talks that work toward North Korea denuclearization.

U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said dialogue for dialogue's sake is meaningless, Voice of America reported Thursday.

Given North Korean's recent course of action, Pyongyang doesn't seem to be considering a return to the talks that have in the past involved the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia, Toner said.

The State Department also said China must take a more proactive role in promoting denuclearization on the Korean peninsula, and stressed that an additional response to North Korea's provocations is needed at the United Nations Security Council.

China has condemned North Korea's satellite launch and January nuclear weapons test, but has been cautious about enacting tough sanctions at the Security Council, where Beijing is a permanent member.

North Korea's provocations have been denounced universally, but multiple South Korean experts say the tests are a domestic strategy that is preparing Pyongyang for a rare meeting of its ruling Workers' Party, South Korean news service Newsis reported.

The meeting is being held for the first time in 36 years.

Seoul's ruling party committee secretary Lee Cheol-woo said Thursday that the exact date has been determined, and the party is to meet on May 7, adding that it's likely the long-range missile and nuclear tests were held to time with the upcoming event.

In Pyongyang, preparations are underway and North Korea has issued more than 300 new party slogans ahead of the congress, Newsis reported.

North Korea's KCNA stated Thursday the "red revolutionary spirit of Mount Paektu" should lead the occasion of the Seventh Party Congress and added slogans are to honor the dynastic Kim leadership.

Slogans urged for the crushing of "U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppet" and called for the "successful thermonuclear weapons test" as a stepping-stone toward furthering the state's goals.