World

North Korea: Peace Talks before Nuke Talks

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | January 11, 2010 at 03:22 am

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The Korean war was fought from 1950 to 1953 and has never ended. The United States led United Nations Command signed a truth with North Korea, ceasing hostilites. This effectively means that the U.S. and North Korea are still technically at war. China is the only other signatory of this truth.

Nuclear weapons have been a concern for the UN Security Council and specifically to the U.S. for some time. This has resulted six nation talks took place with the U.S., China, South Korea, Russia and Japan. North Korea pulled out of those talks last year when it received international criticism as a result of missile launches and UN sanctions.

North Korea later decided to conduct two additional underground tests.

On Monday North Korea has made an overture to continue these six nation talks. To continue these talks, North Korea wants to have talkw toward a peace treaty first, to end the 56 year truth. A second condition is to have sanctions removed.

Is this a stalling tactic or a real effort to work toward a lasting peace? If the offer is genuine it may be a way ahead to finally resolve the conflict with North Korea.

Interestingly, according to Huffington Post, President Obama's Special Envoy, Robert King, stated on Monday that human rights in North Korea must improve, if the country is to normalize relations with the United States. Rober King called North Korea's Human Rights record appalling.

(AP) North Korea proposed peace talks to formally end the Korean War, saying Monday that improved ties with the United States and an end to sanctions are conditions for resuming international negotiations aimed at ridding it of nuclear weapons.

The North's call came as President Obama's special envoy for human rights in North Korea said earlier in the day during a visit to Seoul that any normalization of relations depends on an improvement in what he called the North's "appalling" human rights situation.

The North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the resumption of the six-nation nuclear talks depends on building confidence between Pyongyang and Washington and called for a peace treaty, which it has long demanded.

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YankeeJim

at 04:01 on January 11th, 2010

Whaterver the US government knows about RNK, we rarely hear about. Aside from RNK's demonstrations of might and inconsistency in negotiations that boil down to untruthfulness, what is that we have to go on? It is a dictatorship, bordering on a failed state, with a next door neighbor to the North that can make them do whatever they want.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 04:16 on January 11th, 2010

China's full engagement in this process is definitely necessary.

marianmo

at 04:51 on January 11th, 2010

good post ty acp

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 05:26 on January 11th, 2010

Thanks marianmo

t k kidwai

at 06:47 on January 11th, 2010

North Korea has every right to go nuclear,must go nuclear.

YankeeJim

at 06:52 on January 11th, 2010

What are your coordinates tk, we want to zero in?

Manie (not verified)

at 06:45 on February 16th, 2010

question? what is the purpose of having a nuclear bomb? a deterent or for use. any country in their right mind would not use its arsenal for fear of being wiped out themselves. if everybody had nukes well, no other nation would dare dictate how things are done in other nations. I personally am against all nukes , but since the cat is out of the bag and it aint going back in I say get with the program. no one is innocent in these dirty games.