Tokyo, 24 September, /AJMEDIA/
North Korea will reject any South Korean proposal to declare a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War unless the United States withdraws its “hostile policy” toward Pyongyang, state-run media reported Friday, citing the nation’s vice foreign minister.
South Korean President Moon Jae In said in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that the two Koreas should formally end the war while urging the United States and North Korea to hold talks aimed at bringing about the denuclearization of the latter.
“Nothing will change as long as the political circumstances around the DPRK remains unchanged and the U.S. hostile policy is not shifted, although the termination of the war is declared hundreds of times,” Ri Thae Song was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency as saying.
DPRK is the acronym of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
“It should be clearly understood that the declaration of the termination of the war is of no help at all to stabilizing the situation of the Korean Peninsula at the moment but can rather be misused as a smokescreen covering up the U.S. hostile policy,” the vice minister said.
Supported by China and the Soviet Union, North Korea fought against South Korea, which was backed by U.S.-led U.N. forces. The war ended in a cease-fire rather than a peace treaty.
Pyongyang has no diplomatic relations with Washington.
North Korea has been at odds with the United States over denuclearization and sanctions relief. Pyongyang is believed to want the international community to ease economic sanctions designed to thwart its nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions.