PYONGYANG: Despite the United States’ offer to assist North Korea in dealing with the challenge of novel coronavirus disease 2019, or Covid-19, Chinese experts said Saturday Pyongyang is likely to ignore the US proposal as it can handle the challenge on its own.

Wang Junsheng, a research fellow of East Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the US’ offer actually didn’t address the core issue of the current deadlock between the two countries — removing sanctions, but Washington’s proposal may gain a favorable impression among North Korean people, but it won’t turn into an opportunity to break their diplomatic deadlock.