North Korea has ruled out dismantling its nuclear arsenal in exchange for the US declaring an end to the Korean War, saying on Tuesday that a peace treaty…
North Korea has ruled out dismantling its nuclear arsenal in exchange for the US declaring an end to the Korean War, saying on Tuesday that a peace treaty should « never be a bargaining chip. »
The North has for decades demanded that the US formally declare the end of the 1950-53 conflict that was halted only with an armistice, saying an official end to the war would ease tensions on the flashpoint peninsula.
At a summit with the South’s President Moon Jae-in last month, the North’s leader Kim Jong-un offered to shut down its main Yongbyon nuclear complex if Washington takes « corresponding measures ».
Kim did not elaborate on what those measure might be, but state news agency KCNA said in a commentary that some US experts have suggested trading the end of the war for denuclearisation.
It flatly described that as only the « most basic… process » to restore ties, not a point for negotiation.
« The end of war… is not just a gift from a man to another at all. Furthermore, it can never be a bargaining chip for getting the DPRK denuclearised, » it said, using the North’s full name.
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KCNA said that Pyongyang was willing to take « such… steps as eternal dismantlement » of its nuclear complex « if the US takes a corresponding measure » but again did not elaborate.
Cho Sung-ryul, analyst at the Institute of National Security Strategy, said the commentary may be aimed at limiting Washington’s room for manoeuvre.
« The North is trying to reduce the negotiating value of Washington’s potential offer of a peace treaty, by suggesting that ‘it’s not good enough to make us denuclearise’, » he told South Korea’s news agency Yonhap.
