The United States previously received a proposal from North Korea to discuss a peace treaty to formally end tensions in the Korean Peninsula. However, it did not accept it as the terms did not include Pyongyang's denuclearization, the State Department confirmed on Sunday.
Straits Times reported State Department spokesperson John Kirby disclosed the proposal in response to a Wall Street Journal report that U.S. President Barack Obama's administration secretly agreed to enter into dialogue with North Korea to peacefully end the Korean War. The proposal was received days before North Korea conducted its latest nuclear test in January.
"To be clear, it was the North Koreans who proposed discussing a peace treaty," Kirby said in an email, via Reuters.
"We carefully considered their proposal, and made clear that denuclearization had to be part of any such discussion. Our response to the North Korean proposal was consistent with our longstanding focus on denuclearization."
North Korea did not accept the condition. The Jan. 6 nuclear test terminated plans for peace and diplomacy. The isolationist country later on launched a long-range rocket carrying an Earth orbiting satellite, which further provoked condemnation from many countries including the United States.
On Jan. 16, North Korea made another attempt to push a peace treaty with the U.S. and demanded the end of U.S. military exercises in South Korea as an exchange for Pyongyang putting an end to its nuclear test.
In response to this, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said North Korea needs to show through overt acts that it intends to keep its end of the bargain and drop its nuclear program before any peace talk can commence.
According to The Wall Street Journal, President Obama has reiterated that he is open to follow the same course of action with North Korea as he did with Iran. The White House, however, sees attempts at peace futile and fruitless due to North Korea's being more uncooperative and obstinate.
Many analysts see North Korea's peace talk proposal as an attempt to force the removal of the U.S. military in South Korea. Go Myung Hun, an expert on North Korea at the Asian Institute for Policy Studies, is of the opinion that Kim Jong Un sees nuclear development as a way to strengthen Pyongyang's position in negotiations.
Meanwhile, Obama had signed new measures to tighten sanctions against North Korea. The sanction aims to cut funds to Kim's nuclear program.
