North Korea says hope is alive for peace, summit with the South By Reuters

By Heekyong Yang

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea is prepared to think about one other inter-Korean summit if mutual respect between the rivals may be assured, state information company KCNA reported on Saturday, citing Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean chief Kim Jong Un.

The remark comes only a day after North Korea urged the US and South Korea to desert what it known as their hostile coverage and double requirements in the direction of it earlier than formal talks may be held on ending the 1950-53 Korean Conflict.

The 1950-53 Korean Conflict ended with an armistice not a peace treaty, leaving U.S.-led U.N. forces technically nonetheless at struggle with North Korea.

The query of formally ending the struggle has been sophisticated by North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“I feel that solely when impartiality and the angle of respecting one another are maintained, can there be easy understanding between the north and the south,” Kim Yo Jong mentioned.

Constructive discussions supply the an opportunity for significant and profitable options to points together with “the re-establishment of the north-south joint liaison workplace and the north-south summit, to say nothing of the well timed declaration of the numerous termination of the struggle”, Kim mentioned.

Addressing the U.N. Common Meeting on Tuesday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in repeated a name for a proper finish to the struggle however later mentioned time is working out to attain such progress earlier than his time period ends in Could.

North Korea for many years has sought an finish to the struggle however the US has been reluctant to agree until North Korea provides up its nuclear weapons.

Kim, who’s a strong confidant of her brother the chief, mentioned she famous with curiosity the extreme dialogue within the South over the renewed prospect of a proper declaration of the top of the Korean Conflict.

“I felt that the ambiance of the South Korean public needing to get well the inter-Korean relations from a impasse and obtain peaceable stability as quickly as doable is irresistibly robust,” she mentioned.

“We, too, have the identical want.”

Expectations have been raised {that a} declaration on ending the struggle, even when not an precise treaty, could be made throughout a historic summit between then U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jung Un in Singapore in 2018.

However that chance, and the momentum that the 2 leaders generated over three conferences got here to nothing. Talks have been stalled since 2019.

U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned in his personal U.N. handle that he needed “sustained diplomacy” https://www.reuters.com/world/un-biden-will-try-move-past-afghanistan-with-climate-china-focus-2021-09-21 to resolve the disaster surrounding North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

North Korea has rejected U.S. overtures to interact in dialogue and the pinnacle of the U.N. atomic watchdog mentioned this week that its nuclear programme was going “full steam forward”.