A file picture shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at a joint press conference in Pyongyang in September. [Joint Press Corps]
SEOUL -- North Korea will not use the issue of putting an end to the status of
war on the Korean peninsula as a bargaining chip in denuclearization talks, its state media said, accusing the United States of trying to subdue "someone" by resorting to sanctions.
A declaration on ending war is "not just a gift from a man to another at all," the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary published on Tuesday. "Furthermore, it can never be a bargaining chip for getting the DPRK (North Korea) denuclearized."
KCNA said such a declaration is the "most basic and primary" process for the establishment of new relations and a peace mechanism on the Korean peninsula.
"But, if the U.S. doesn't want the end of war, the DPRK will also not particularly hope for it." it said, blasting some American experts for "spouting such rubbish" that the U.S. should force North Korea to notify its nuclear program, have it verified and dismantle nuclear and missile facilities in return for the declaration
North Korea has clarified its stance that it is willing to continuously take additional steps such as the eternal dismantlement of nuclear facilities if the U.S. takes corresponding measures, KCNA said.
"The DPRK is taking substantial and crucial steps to implement the joint statement made at the DPRK-U.S. summit, but the U.S. is still trying to subdue someone by resorting to sanctions, oft-repeating the story about escalation of sanctions pressure on the DPRK," it said.
"Worse still, those called experts on the Korean issue are orchestrating a farce of putting a price on the issue which should have been settled 60 odd years ago," KCNA added.
After an inter-Korean summit in September, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wanted a quick second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and expressed his willingness to focus on economic development through an early conclusion of denuclearization talks.
South Korea hopes to see the declaration on ending war by the end of this year, Moon said, suggesting that when complete denuclearization is achieved, a truce peace regime can be written to replace the 1953 armistice agreement that left the Korean peninsula technically at war.
North Korea has clarified its stance that it is willing to continuously take additional steps such as the eternal dismantlement of nuclear facilities if the U.S. takes corresponding measures, KCNA said.
"The DPRK is taking substantial and crucial steps to implement the joint statement made at the DPRK-U.S. summit, but the U.S. is still trying to subdue someone by resorting to sanctions, oft-repeating the story about escalation of sanctions pressure on the DPRK," it said.
"Worse still, those called experts on the Korean issue are orchestrating a farce of putting a price on the issue which should have been settled 60 odd years ago," KCNA added.
After an inter-Korean summit in September, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wanted a quick second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and expressed his willingness to focus on economic development through an early conclusion of denuclearization talks.
South Korea hopes to see the declaration on ending war by the end of this year, Moon said, suggesting that when complete denuclearization is achieved, a truce peace regime can be written to replace the 1953 armistice agreement that left the Korean peninsula technically at war.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
