North Korea is getting closer to completely abandoning talks with the U.S. and is increasing its resolve for “payback” against Washington, an official from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement on Monday.

The comments, credited to an unnamed “director general for negotiations with the U.S.” — an apparently new position — cited recent remarks on DPRK sanctions by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as the reason for the potential shift.

Those comments, made following a G7 teleconference on the novel coronavirus(COVID-19) last week, saw Pompeo urge all countries to “stay committed to applying diplomatic