“It is misjudgment for Washington to stand up to the North by not scrapping its hostile stance with the sanctions,” the North’s state-controlled Korean Central News Agency quoted Ri as saying, Thursday.

The statement came in response to Pompeo’s recent comments that the U.S. will stick to the so-called maximum pressure strategy against the North by keeping the tough sanctions in place unless Pyongyang does the “right thing” for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

“(The U.S. will) continue to work toward convincing Chairman Kim and the North Korean leaders that the right thing to do is for them to denuclearize,” Pompeo said in a local media interview earlier this week.

Despite the North’s critical message, the reclusive country also left open the possibility for a resumption of the now-suspended nuclear dialogue with the U.S.

In the statement, Ri also said North Korea “is ready for both dialogue and confrontation” with the U.S.

“If the U.S. sticks to the confrontational stance, North Korea will remain the biggest threat to the U.S.,” Ri said. “In that case, we will let them realize what they have to do.”

Following the breakdown of the Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim last February, both sides failed to resume dialogue. Even if the June 30 “mini summit” between Trump and Kim raised hopes for an earlier resumption in their working-level talks, the North is yet to deliver any clear signal for the restart of the dialogue.

The U.S. Department of State said in a recent report that North Korea’s dismantlement of its Punggye-ri nuclear facility is “reversible.”

The report, titled “2019 Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments,” said the detonation of the Punggye nuclear site is “certainly reversible.” It also added that North Korea is still capable of developing another nuclear test site.

South Korea, as a mediator for nuclear talks between the U.S. and the North, is sending a series of reconciliatory messages to the North, which continues to face intensifying economic sanctions from the international community.

South Korea is pushing for a plan to provide 50,000 tons of rice to the North through the World Food Programme. But the North declined to accept the humanitarian aid. Overseas media reports said the North, which suffers harsh food shortages, will receive 800,000 tons of rice from China.

Even if the North is showing negative signs for inter-Korean reconciliation, the South Korean government is in a position to keep persuading the North to bring it back to the negotiating table for peace and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea planned to invite North Korean officials to this year’s Seoul Defense Dialogue scheduled for early next month.

“South Korea considered inviting North Korea to the annual defense forum during an early stage of the event’s preparation,” a military official said. “But as of now, we are not considering inviting the North.”