North Korean proposal for peace talks rejected
Source: Agencies |
January 13, 2010, Wednesday
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SOUTH Korea and the United States rejected North Korea's proposal to start peace talks to formally end the Korean War, with Seoul saying yesterday that can happen only after the North rejoins disarmament talks and reports progress in denuclearization.
The North said on Monday that its return to six-nation negotiations on its nuclear weapons program hinges on building better relations with the US by starting peace treaty talks. The North also called for the lifting of international sanctions against it.
Yesterday, South Korea's defense chief said he believes peace treaty talks can take place only after the nuclear talks are resumed and the North takes steps toward disarming its atomic programs.
"I think it's an issue that we can probably move forward with after the six-party talks are reopened and there is progress in North Korea's denuclearization process," Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said.
He said South Korea will continue to try to find what the North's true intention is behind the proposal.
US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley also brushed off the North's call, saying it must first rejoin the six-party negotiations.
Crowley, speaking on Monday in Washington, urged North Korea to return to the talks "and then we can begin to march down the list of issues that we have."
Washington and Pyongyang have never had diplomatic relations because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, thus leaving the peninsula technically at war. North Korea, the US-led United Nations Command and China signed a cease-fire, but South Korea never did.
Despite the rejection, the North's top diplomat in Beijing yesterday repeated his country's position that it will only resume nuclear talks after sanctions are lifted.
"If sanctions are lifted, the six-party talks can be held at once," North Korean Ambassador to China Choe Jin Su said in a group interview in Beijing.
He also said the conclusion of a peace treaty will help promote denuclearization "at a rapid tempo," Kyodo reported. "Here I would like to stress 'at a rapid tempo,'" he said.
The North said on Monday that its return to six-nation negotiations on its nuclear weapons program hinges on building better relations with the US by starting peace treaty talks. The North also called for the lifting of international sanctions against it.
Yesterday, South Korea's defense chief said he believes peace treaty talks can take place only after the nuclear talks are resumed and the North takes steps toward disarming its atomic programs.
"I think it's an issue that we can probably move forward with after the six-party talks are reopened and there is progress in North Korea's denuclearization process," Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said.
He said South Korea will continue to try to find what the North's true intention is behind the proposal.
US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley also brushed off the North's call, saying it must first rejoin the six-party negotiations.
Crowley, speaking on Monday in Washington, urged North Korea to return to the talks "and then we can begin to march down the list of issues that we have."
Washington and Pyongyang have never had diplomatic relations because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, thus leaving the peninsula technically at war. North Korea, the US-led United Nations Command and China signed a cease-fire, but South Korea never did.
Despite the rejection, the North's top diplomat in Beijing yesterday repeated his country's position that it will only resume nuclear talks after sanctions are lifted.
"If sanctions are lifted, the six-party talks can be held at once," North Korean Ambassador to China Choe Jin Su said in a group interview in Beijing.
He also said the conclusion of a peace treaty will help promote denuclearization "at a rapid tempo," Kyodo reported. "Here I would like to stress 'at a rapid tempo,'" he said.
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