N. Korea demands peace treaty for stopping nuke tests

In addition to renewing a familiar demand for the allies to halt their regular exercises, Pyongyang’s ministry spokesperson also put forward the possibility of a peace treaty in the statement carried by North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency.

North Korea says it could stop its nuclear tests in exchange for signing a peace treaty with the USA and a stop to annual military exercises between the US and South Korea.

AFP PHOTO / POOL / Kimimasa Mayama China was quick to condemn the North’s nuclear test. But it is apparently seeking to water down the U.N.-led sanctions on the North in a familiar pattern following its nuclear and long-range missile tests.

North Korea’s United Nations mission circulated a report Wednesday from the country’s news agency saying North Korean scientists and technicians “are in high spirit to detonate H-bombs… capable of wiping out the whole territory of the US all at once as it persistently moves to stifle the DPRK”.

But the US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Pyongyang needed to demonstrate by its action that it was serious about denuclearisation for any dialogues to start.

It is likely both officials would take the opportunity to persuade China, a permanent member of the Security Council, to consider tougher sanctions against North Korea. Following its second and third nuclear tests in 2009 and 2013, North Korea launched similar cyber attacks against the South.

Fortunately however, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed to work closely together to address their shared concerns about North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.

Earlier this month, North Korea ignited a worldwide backlash over claims that it had it tested a hydrogen bomb, yet experts expressed doubt over the assertion.

“It’s very hard to take seriously any of their overtures, particularly in the wake of their fourth nuclear test”, Blinken said.

The talks came two days after South Korean President Park Geun-Hye urged China to step up to the plate and support genuinely punitive sanctions that would help bring Pyongyang to heel. Lim and Blinken are in Tokyo to meet their Japanese counterpart on Saturday, Jan. 16 to discuss responses to North Korea’s latest nuclear test.