North Korean envoy derides ‘futile’ US sanctions

GENEVA – A North Korean parliamentarian says the United States should end its “futile moves of sanctions and pressure” against his country, while stressing the need for dialogue and negotiation.

Ri Jong Hyok, a member of the Supreme People’s Assembly in North Korea, used an address to the annual assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Switzerland to lash out at what he called the Americans’ “anachronistic” and “hostile” policy.

At Monday’s gathering of lawmakers from around the world, Ri also criticized Western countries’ migration polices — the IPU Assembly’s theme this year.

Officials say North Korean envoys don’t typically speak at the assembly. Ri’s comments have been highly watched amid signs of a thaw between North and South Korea and the prospect that the U.S. and North Korea may negotiate directly.