North Korea proposes talks with US to ease tensions
The powerful National Defense Commission headed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued a statement through state media proposing high-level talks to ease tensions and promote peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea’s top governing body on Sunday proposed high-level nuclear and security talks with the United States in an appeal sent just days after calling off talks with rival South Korea.
The powerful National Defense Commission headed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued a statement through state media proposing high-level talks to ease tensions and promote peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. There was no immediate response from Washington.
The proposal for talks between the Korean War foes follows months of acrimony over North Korea’s defiant launch of a long-range rocket in December and a nuclear test in February, provocative acts that drew tightened UN and US sanctions. The US and South Korea countered the moves by stepping up annual springtime military exercises that prompted North Korea to warn of a “nuclear war” on the Korean Peninsula.
However, as tensions subsided in May and June, Pyongyang has made tentative overtures to re-establish dialogue with South Korea and Washington.
A proposal for Cabinet-level talks with South Korea — the first in six years — led to initial plans for two days of meetings in Seoul earlier this week, but the plans fell apart over disagreement over who would lead the two delegations.
North Korea fought against US-led United Nations and South Korean troops during the three-year Korean War in the early 1950s, and Pyongyang does not have diplomatic relations with either government. The Korean Peninsula remains divided by a heavily fortified border.