The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Friday that her country is ready to resume talks with South Korea if it does not provoke North Korea with hostile policies and double standards.
Kim Yo Jong’s statement was a response to a renewed call by South Korean President Moon Jae-in to declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War as a way to bring back peace.
His proposal also came days after North Korea made its debut. missile test In six months and South Korea conducted its first test of a submarine-launched missile.
“if [South] Korea distances itself from the past when it provoked us and criticized us every step of the way with its double standards and restored honesty in its words and actions and abandoned its hostility, so we can resume close communication. And be ready to engage in a constructive discussion about restoring. Developing relations,” said Kim Yo Jong.
To achieve the declaration of the end of the war, she said: “We must ensure mutual respect for each other and first let go of prejudicial views, harshly hostile policies and unreasonable double standards towards the other side.”
His remarks contrasted with a blunt statement made earlier on Friday by a senior North Korean diplomat that the declaration of the end of the war could be used as a “smokescreen covering up US hostile policy” against the North.
Deputy Secretary of State Ri Thae Song said US weapons and troops have been deployed in and around South Korea regular US military exercises “All Americans point to hostile policy” in the region [North Korea] Getting smarter day by day.”
North Korea has also long described US-led economic sanctions as evidence of US hostility against the North.
In response to Ri’s statement, South Korea’s unification ministry said it would continue its efforts to adopt a declaration of an end to the war and strengthen cooperation with the countries concerned.
Deputy ministry spokesman Cha Dak Chul said declaring the end of the war would be “a very meaningful step” as it could be a starting point for peace talks and denuclearization on the peninsula.
The Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in a technical state of war.
North Korea wants to sign a peace treaty with the United States to formally end the war and later improve relations. Some experts say the peace treaty could allow North Korea to withdraw its 28,500 troops to South Korea and demand the United States to ease sanctions.
The two Koreas had called for an end to the war and the signing of a peace treaty during a period of diplomacy with the United States that began in 2018, and there was speculation that former President Donald Trump could declare an end to the war. Huh. In early 2019 to persuade North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to commit to nuclear disarmament.
No such announcement was made as diplomacy came to a standstill over North Korea’s easing of sanctions in return for denuclearization.
In late 2019, North Korea said the nuclear crisis would not be resolved if the United States sought to persuade it to return to negotiations with a resolution on an end-of-war declaration without withdrawing its hostile policy.
In recent months, Kim has warned that North Korea strengthen your nuclear arsenal Introduce more sophisticated weapon systems until the United States abandons its hostile policy.
Last week, North Korea conducted its first cruise and ballistic missile tests since March, demonstrating its ability to launch attacks on South Korea and Japan, two major US allies where a total of 80,000 US troops are stationed.