SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A senior North Korean diplomat has berated U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his comments describing North Korean behavior as "rogue" and says Pyongyang's hopes for talks with Washington are fading.

North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui in a statement released through state media on Saturday said Pompeo's "excessive" comments increased North Korean people's animosity toward Americans and made it harder for working-level nuclear negotiations between the countries to resume.

Pompeo in speech to U.S. veterans in Indiana on Tuesday said the Trump administration recognized that "North Korea's rogue behavior could not be ignored."

North Korea has recently conducted a slew of short-range weapons tests in what's seen as an attempt to increase pressure on Washington and Seoul amid a standstill in nuclear negotiations.