A top North Korean diplomat condemned the Biden administration’s recent attempts to get in touch through backchannels on Thursday, calling them a “cheap trick” that only delays time.

Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s first vice foreign minister, said that the United States reached out through email and phone messages “via various routes” since mid-February, confirming earlier reports citing Biden administration officials. North Korea did not respond to these requests and vowed to “disregard such an attempt from the U.S. in the future, too.”

“Even in the evening before the joint military drill, it sent a message imploring us to respond