U.S. responsible if diplomacy over Korea peninsula breaks down - N.Korea envoy

The United States will be held responsible if the opportunity for diplomacy over the Korean peninsula issue is lost, North Korea's vice foreign minister was quoted as saying by the South's Yonhap news agency on Friday.

Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui also said the North had taken steps to build confidence with the United States but all it had received in return was a sense of betrayal, Yonhap quoted her as saying.

Choe, who is a close aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a key diplomat in Pyongyang's engagement with Washington, has been visiting Moscow. It was not clear from the Yonhap report where Choe was speaking.