The international community should reconsider whether sanctions have achieved any progress toward North Korea’s denuclearization, the South Korean governor of the only province spanning both Koreas told NK News in an exclusive interview.

Speaking to NK News at the Jeongseon Forum on Thursday, Gangwon Province Governor Choi Moon-soon also said Pyongyang is uncomfortable with offers of “humanitarian” assistance, as it implies a sense of pity.

“I don’t think sanctions against North Korea have borne any fruit so far … Both nuclear warheads and ICBMs developed rapidly even amid the reinforcement of the international sanctions regime,” said Choi, who was briefly