North Korea cancelled meeting with Mike Pence: officials

U.S. officials say North Korea walked away from meeting with Mike Pence at the Winter Games.
On Tuesday the Vice President's chief of staff told Reuters that Pence was scheduled to meet with Pyongyang officials, including Kim Jong Un's sister, on the Olympic sidelines on February 10, a day after the Opening Ceremony.
But according to officials, North Korea cancelled at the last minute.
It would have been the first scheduled encounter between senior Trump White House officials and Pyongyang.
However in the days before, Pence condemned North Korean human rights abuses and announced plans for new sanctions.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said, "I am announcing today that the United States of America will soon unveil the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever."
After that, U.S. officials said in a statement that North Korea either nixed the planned talks or "perhaps they were never sincere about sitting down."
Signs of a thaw in relations between the two Koreas have sparked speculation they could lead to direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang, after months of tension and mudslinging between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.
North Korea has held off from carrying out any weapons tests since November, when it shot off its largest intercontinental ballistic missile yet.