SEOUL, South Korea (AP) A senior North Korean diplomat on Saturday berated U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his comments describing North Korean behavior as rogue and warned that Pyongyangs hopes for talks with Washington are fading.

In a statement carried by state media, North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said Pompeos thoughtless comments increased North Korean peoples animosity toward Americans and made it harder for working-level nuclear dialogue between the countries to resume.

North Korea is extremely sensitive to outside criticism about its authoritarian leadership. It has also repeatedly expressed displeasure about a months-long stalemate in negotiations and ramped up testing of short-range ballistic missiles and rocket artillery in recent weeks in an apparent effort to build bargaining leverage.

Our expectations of dialogue with the U.S. are gradually disappearing and we are being pushed to re-examine all the measures we have taken so far, Choe said in the statement, carried by the Norths official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA.

We are very curious about the background of the American top diplomats thoughtless remarks and we will watch what calculations he has, she said. The U.S. had better not put any longer our patience to the test with such remarks irritating us if it doesnt want to have bitter regrets afterward.

In a speech to U.S. veterans in Indiana on Tuesday, Pompeo said the Trump administration recognized that North Koreas rogue behavior could not be ignored while touting its approach in foreign policy.

Americanism it means telling the truth about the challenges we face, he said. Look, this administration didnt pretend that the Islamic Republic of Iran was a responsible actor in the Middle East. We called out Chinas bad behavior on trade and on national security. We recognized we recognized that North Koreas rogue behavior could not be ignored.