IN A major departure from its previous position, North Korea has proposed that a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War be signed this year. It says a return to negotiations on its nuclear ambitions depended on better relations with Washington and the lifting of sanctions.
While it appears to be a semantic issue, it is a central one to Korean relations. Washington and Pyongyang have never had diplomatic relations. The 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula technically at war. And while North Korea, the US-led United Nations Command and China signed a ceasefire, South Korea never did.
“The conclusion of the peace treaty will help terminate the hostile relations between us [North Korea] and the US and positively promote the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula at a rapid tempo,” the North’s foreign ministry said yesterday.
The secretive communist country pulled out of nuclear talks last year to protest at UN sanctions imposed for its launch of a long-range missile in May.
However, since then the impoverished state has suffered and appears to be trying to rescue its shattered economy by agreeing to return to the talks, during which it had agreed to disarm in exchange for economic aid, security assurances and diplomatic recognition.
The absence of a peace deal was the “root cause of the hostile relations” with the US, and the ministry called for a treaty this year, which marks the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.
Washington has long opposed signing a peace deal with the North as long as it has nuclear weapons. However it has conceded that it could be a subject for discussion within the framework of the six-party talks, involving chairman China, both Koreas, Japan, Russia and the US, and aimed at resolving the nuclear impasse on the Korean peninsula. There have been no talks for more than a year.
“The removal of the barrier of such discrimination and distrust as sanctions may soon lead to the opening of the six-party talks,” the North’s statement said.
Despite the warmer tone, President Barack Obama’s special envoy for human rights in North Korea said in Seoul that the communist regime must improve its “appalling” human rights record before there could be any normalisation of relations. “It is one of the worst places in terms of the lack of human rights. The situation is appalling,” Robert King said.