U.S. rejected peace talks, demanded Pyongyang’s denuclearization before latest nuclear test

North Korea has an unknown number of functioning nuclear bombs, but likely now lacks a reliable missile system capable of delivering one, reports BBC. “Its nuclear test on January 6 ended the diplomatic gambit”.

“To be clear, it was the North Koreans who proposed discussing a peace treaty”, Kirby said in an email, via Reuters. “We carefully considered their proposal and made clear that denuclearization had to be part of any such discussion”, State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

The talks, which the US says North Korea requested, ended after North Korea rejected a USA demand that denuclearization be a condition for the talks, Obama administration officials said.

The US, by contrast, has long insisted that it won’t “reward” North Korea with peace while it continues to possess a nuclear weapons program. “Our response to North Korea’s proposal was consistent with our longstanding focus on denuclearization”, he said.

The approach is similar to the controversial tack President Barack Obama adopted with its approach to Iran, but the WSJ said the White House sees North Korea as much less transparent and cooperative.

“(The bank) had never told me why it was taking such measures, but it seems that they are related with the strained relations between North Korea and China”, the ICBC employee told the Dong-A Ilbo. The isolationist country later on launched a long-range rocket carrying an Earth orbiting satellite, which further provoked condemnation from many countries including the United States.

Ri Myong-Su, former People’s Security Minister, was referred to as “chief of the Korean People’s Army General Staff” when the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on an army exercise guided by leader Kim Jong-Un.

The United States previously received a proposal from North Korea to discuss a peace treaty to formally end tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

But U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said then that Pyongyang needed to demonstrate by its actions that it was serious about denuclearization before any dialogues could start.

Ri Myong-su has been named army chief in North Korea, days after unconfirmed reports that his predecessor, Ri Yong-gil, had been executed.