The North Korean delegation to semiofficial talks with South Korea and the U.S. held in Finland last month was revealed to have dismissed the stalled multinational talks on the nuclear disarmament of the regime as a “dead” platform. 

Jo Dong-ho, the president of the state-funded Institute for National Security Strategy, called a media conference in Seoul on Friday, where he talked about his experience as the leader of the South Korean delegation to the two-day talks held in Helsinki through March 21st. 

He said that the North Korean delegation said the six-party-talks were dead. He said, however, that he cannot remember exactly who said that among the North Koreans attending the talks. 

The alleged remark is drawing attention as it stands in stark contrast with Japanese media reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed an intention to return to the talks during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing that was held five days after the Helsinki talks. 

Choe Kang-il, deputy director-general for North American Affairs at the Pyongyang Foreign Ministry, led the North Korean officials during the talks alongside former diplomats and researchers from South Korea and the U.S.