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State Department: US rejected North Korea peace talks before nuclear test
 The United States rejected a North Korean proposal to discuss a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War because it did not address denuclearization on the peninsula, the State Department said on Sunday.
| The Guardian writes as if this is a problem... |
Spokesman John Kirby made the comment in response to a Wall Street Journal report that the White House secretly agreed to peace talks just before Pyongyang’s latest nuclear bomb test. The newspaper, citing US officials familiar with the events, said the Obama administration dropped its condition that Pyongyang take steps to curtail its nuclear arsenal before any peace talks, instead calling for North Korea’s atomic weapons program to be just one part of the discussion.
| That sounds like Obama the Appeaser alright... |
Pyongyang declined the proposal, and its 6 January nuclear test ended the diplomatic plans, the newspaper reported.
| Pudgy apparently is a Paleostinian deep down at heart: he never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity... |
“To be clear, it was the North Koreans who proposed discussing a peace treaty,” Kirby said in an emailed statement.
“We carefully considered their proposal, and made clear that denuclearization had to be part of any such discussion. The North rejected our response,” he said.
| Part of, not a pre-condition. You see, the Norks did get State to move... |
“Our response to the NK proposal was consistent with our longstanding focus on denuclearization.“
North Korea said on 6 January it had tested a nuclear device it claimed was a hydrogen bomb, provoking condemnation from its neighbors and the US. Weeks later, it launched a long-range rocket carrying what it called a satellite, prompting renewed criticism.
On 16 January, Pyongyang had demanded the conclusion of a peace treaty with the US and a halt to US military exercises with South Korea to end its nuclear tests.
But US 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.
Posted by: Steve White 2016-02-22 |
