Sailfish 1, I do not know the point you are trying to make by citing the NY Times story.  It does say that North Korea proposed high level talks with the United States, but it does not say that the U.S. did not agree to it.  You need to read the entire story to understand the situation, which you clearly do not.  North Korea attached preconditions to its proposal to talk with the U.S.  The U.S. replied that North Korea must first take concrete steps to show its sincerity in giving up its nuclear weapons.  That was not a precondition – it was a demand that North Korea live up to previous agreements and United Nations resolutions regarding its nuclear and missiles, which NK has not done.  The story even cites an agreement reached in February 2012 for U.S. food aid in exchange for a NK moratorium of nuclear and missile testing, which NK violated two months later.  NK can’t be trusted.