North Korea has no intention of meeting U.S officials during the Winter Olympics that start on Friday in the South, the KCNA news agency reported, dampening hopes the games will help resolve a tense standoff over the Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who described North Korea as the world's most tyrannical regime on Wednesday, flies in to South Korea on Thursday ahead of the opening ceremony in the mountain resort of Pyeongchang, just 80 km (50 miles) from the heavily armed border with North Korea.
The ceremony will also be attended by a senior delegation of North Korean officials, including the younger sister of leader Kim Jong Un and the North's nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam.