North Korea demands peace treaty to stop tests

In a statement issued by Pyongyang foreign ministry and carried by its official newspaper Rodong Sinmun, North Korea emphasized again that its H-bomb test was aimed at defending the country’s sovereignty and right to live, rather than exacerbate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Xinhua reported. “It’s hard to take any of their overtures seriously, especially in the wake of their nuclear test”.

“We face a significant challenge, but we face it together, in solidarity, and we’re grateful for the partnership between the United States and South Korea”, Blinken said.

The trilateral meeting in Tokyo brought together South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki.

Asked if the United States would consider a halt to joint exercises with South korea, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said it had alliance commitments to South Korea.

North Korea is in theory barred from developing nuclear weapons under a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

“Still valid are all proposals for preserving peace and stability on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia including the ones for ceasing our nuclear test and the conclusion of a peace treaty in return for US halt to joint military exercises”, North Korea’s news agency KCNA cited a spokesman for North Korea’s foreign ministry as saying on Saturday.

As a traditional ally of North Korea, China has voiced its firm opposition to North Korea’s nuclear program but is apparently against strongly punishing its neighbor.

North Korea declared itself a nuclear power in 2005 and conducted a series of underground nuclear weapon tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

“Compared with Iran, the North Korean case is far more convoluted – in terms of the economic structure and diplomatic manner, it would be easier to mount pressure on and strike a bargain with Iran, whose nuclear program is also not as advanced as that of the North”, a diplomatic source in Seoul said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.