Seoul (AsiaNews) – Pyongyang wants new talks with Washington in order to reach a peace agreement that will end sanctions, this according to a news report from the official North Korean news agency KCNA, which quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman. The issue would be discussed at an independent meeting of armistice signatories or even in the six-party nuclear talks. However, for the United States normalisation is tied to human rights, a situation it deems "appalling".
"The conclusion of the peace treaty will help terminate the hostile relations between the DPRK and the U.S. and positively promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at a rapid tempo". For the North, the "state of war" between the two countries is one of the reasons for the "hostile relations".
"The removal of the barrier of such discrimination and distrust as sanctions may soon help lead to the opening of the six-party talks" that include the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia, the Foreign Ministry press release said.
Technically, the two Koreas are still at war; only an armistice was ever signed. The United States and the United Nations signed the ceasefire with North Korea and China on behalf of the South Korea to end the Korean War (1950-1953).
However, the US administration insists that the normalisation of relations is linked to human rights, whose situation in North Korea is "appalling".
For Robert King, the United States' representative on North Korean human rights, the Communist nation is "one of the worst places in terms of the lack of human rights".
King arrived today in South Korea on a four-day visit till Thursday. He is expected to reiterate US policy vis-à-vis Pyongyang to include an overall agreement on nuclear matters as well as human rights.
US embassies around the world have been given instructions to help North Korean refugees in search of political asylum.
