N Korea call for peaceful relations with US
A New Year's message from North Korea has pledged to "put an end to the hostile relationship" with the United States.
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Friday, 01, Jan 2010 02:41
By Elizabeth Davies.
A New Year's message from North Korea has pledged to "put an end to the hostile relationship" with the United States.
The joint editorial from the state's three major newspapers has raised hopes that the country could rejoin disarmament talks in 2010.
Last year witnessed a setback in attempts to curb North Korea's nuclear programme. In April and May it carried out two missile tests, bringing condemnation from the international community and the tightening of sanctions. In response, North Korea walked out of the six-party talks which have been trying to resolve the situation since 2003.
Analysts are hopeful that 2010 will be more successful in encouraging the regime to give up its nuclear plans. The annual New Year's message is pored over for indications of the state's likely policy in the coming year, and experts agree that 2010's message is unusually conciliatory.
Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute security thinktank, told the Associated Press that the country had "extended an olive branch to the US". The editorial affirmed North Korea's commitment to "establish a lasting peace system on the Korean peninsula and make it nuclear-free through dialogue and negotiations".
However, such "dialogue and negotiations" have made slow progress in recent years. In December bilateral talks between the regime and the US envoy, Stephen Bosworth, accomplished little in the way of verifiable results, although North Korea claimed the two sides had "narrowed differences in their respective views".
Despite the less aggressive tone, North Korea is unlikely to commit to disarmament until its own requirements are met. Its negotiating position in six-party talks and in later bilateral meetings has been that normalization of diplomatic relations with the United States and peace talks with South Korea must precede any nuclear agreement.
Although the Korean War is generally recognised to have ended in 1953, this was accomplished through a truce, rather than a peace treaty. North Korea consistently uses this as justification for its fears of invasion from the United States and South Korea, where American troops remain stationed. Many in these two countries fear that the call for peace talks by the North is merely designed to distract the international community from its expanding cache of nuclear weapons.
The editorial was also warm towards the North's southern neighbour, claiming that its commitment to "improve the north-south relations" was "unshakable". Lee Myung-bak, South Korea's president since February 2008, has been more conservative towards the North than his predecessors. He won on an election pledge to strengthen relations with the United States, and has scaled back his country's aid flows to the North. Nevertheless, in December there were signs of increasing cooperation, as North Korea accepted an offer from the South of much-needed swine flu medication.
In August North Korea's relations with the United States took a surprising turn, as former President Bill Clinton met the country's leader to negotiate the release of two American journalists. Kim Jong-il's agreement led to a thawing of relations, and the first bilateral high-level negotiation between the two countries.
Whether 2010 will see any concessions made by North Korea over its nuclear programme is unclear. A US State Department official, speaking anonymously, told the AFP news agency that while the New Year's message was welcome: "Actions speak louder than words". The action the United States would no doubt view as the strongest commitment to lasting peace is a resumption of the stalled six-party talks.