North Korea is reportedly giving the Biden administration the silent treatment

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

published 14 March 2021

It appears President Biden is getting the silent treatment from North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un.

The United States has been reaching out to North Korea to no avail since mid-February, a senior Biden administration official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The official provided few details, but said Washington has tried to get Kim's attention through "several channels," including Pyongyang's mission to the United Nations in New York. "To date, we have not received any response from Pyongyang," the official told Reuters, adding that it appears there has been no active dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea for more than a year, including the final months of the Trump administration.

Former President Donald Trump met with Kim on three separate occasions, and it appeared the two leaders developed a surprising rapport on a personal level, but their historic talks made little headway in terms of nuclear negotiations, and engagement eventually fizzled. The Biden administration, meanwhile, has kept its North Korea plans mostly under wraps, saying only that a comprehensive policy review is underway. It's unclear how the failed attempts at communication will affect the strategy. Read more at Reuters.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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