The sister of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, has warned the new US administration that it must avoid "causing a stink" if it wants peace.
The remarks by Kim Yo Jong were reported by the state news agency KCNA.
North Korea has so far rebuffed entreaties from the US to engage in dialogue, the White House said today, as a chill in relations that began under then-President Donald Trump has extended into Joe Biden's presidency.
Nuclear-armed North Korea gave up on diplomacy with Mr Trump even though he and Kim Jong Un had three high-profile summit meetings and exchanged a series of letters.
Mr Trump had refused North Korean entreaties to relax sanctions against Pyongyang unless Kim took steps to dismantle his nuclear programme, which he refused to do.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters today that US officials have reached out to North Korea through a number of channels since Joe Biden took office nearly two months ago.
"Our goal is to reduce the risk of escalation. But to date we have not received any response," Ms Psaki said.
She did not elaborate on what type of escalation the United States was concerned about. North Korea conducted six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017.
Ms Psaki said the administration was consulting former US government officials who have been involved in North Korea policy from past administrations while also seeking input from allies Japan and South Korea.
"This follows over a year without active dialogue with North Korea despite multiple attempts by the US to engage...You can all anticipate that there will be a continued expansion of engagement with partners and allies in the region," she said.
A senior Biden administration official told Reuters on Saturday there had been efforts to reach out to the North Korean government through several channels starting in mid-February.
