NK sets conditions for restart of talks
Source: Agencies |
April 19, 2013, Friday
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NORTH Korea yesterday demanded the withdrawal of UN sanctions and the end of US-South Korea military drills as conditions for resuming talks meant to defuse tension on the Korean Peninsula.
The statement from the Policy Department of the National Defense Commission, the country's top governing body, came four days after Pyongyang rejected Seoul's latest dialogue offer as insincere.
The US says it is prepared to talk to North Korea but Pyongyang must first bring down tensions and honor previous disarmament agreements.
"Dialogue can never go with war actions," said the statement, which was carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Before the talks can resume, the statement said the US must also withdraw all nuclear weapons assets from South Korea and the region.
It said South Korea, for its part, must stop all anti-North Korea talks, such as its recent announcement blaming Pyongyang for a cyberattack that shut down tens of thousands of computers and servers at South Korean broadcasters and banks last month. North Korea has denied responsibility for the cyberattack.
Later yesterday, South Korea's Foreign Ministry dismissed North Korea's demand as illogical. "We again strongly urge North Korea to stop this kind of insistence that we cannot totally understand and go down the path of a wise choice," spokesman Cho Tai-young said.
In recent weeks, North Korea has threatened to attack the US and South Korea over the military drills and sanctions imposed for its February nuclear test. It calls the annual drills a rehearsal for invasion.
South Korean officials have also said North Korea is poised to test-fire a medium-range missile capable of reaching the American territory of Guam.
The ongoing annual drills, called Foal Eagle, are to finish at the end of April. Seoul and Washington officials say they are defensive in nature, and insist they have no intentions of invading North Korea.
The statement from the Policy Department of the National Defense Commission, the country's top governing body, came four days after Pyongyang rejected Seoul's latest dialogue offer as insincere.
The US says it is prepared to talk to North Korea but Pyongyang must first bring down tensions and honor previous disarmament agreements.
"Dialogue can never go with war actions," said the statement, which was carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Before the talks can resume, the statement said the US must also withdraw all nuclear weapons assets from South Korea and the region.
It said South Korea, for its part, must stop all anti-North Korea talks, such as its recent announcement blaming Pyongyang for a cyberattack that shut down tens of thousands of computers and servers at South Korean broadcasters and banks last month. North Korea has denied responsibility for the cyberattack.
Later yesterday, South Korea's Foreign Ministry dismissed North Korea's demand as illogical. "We again strongly urge North Korea to stop this kind of insistence that we cannot totally understand and go down the path of a wise choice," spokesman Cho Tai-young said.
In recent weeks, North Korea has threatened to attack the US and South Korea over the military drills and sanctions imposed for its February nuclear test. It calls the annual drills a rehearsal for invasion.
South Korean officials have also said North Korea is poised to test-fire a medium-range missile capable of reaching the American territory of Guam.
The ongoing annual drills, called Foal Eagle, are to finish at the end of April. Seoul and Washington officials say they are defensive in nature, and insist they have no intentions of invading North Korea.
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