7.22.2005
N Korea Calls for US Peace Treaty (news.BBC.co.uk)
Friday, 22 July, 2005, 03:24 GMT 04:24 UK
North Korea has called for a peace treaty with the US, ahead of the resumption of talks aimed at ending the stand-off over its nuclear weapons.
Pyongyang said in a statement that a full treaty replacing the armistice signed at the end of the Korean War in 1953 was needed to resolve the crisis.
The North has made similar calls in the past, but peace negotiations quickly became bogged down.
Six-nation talks are due to resume in Beijing on Tuesday.
North Korea walked out of the talks in February 2004, and has since admitted stockpiling atomic weapons.
The North has in the past demanded a non-aggression pact with the US - but Washington refuses to talk about this until North Korea agrees to shut down its weapons programme.
The Korean War ended with an armistice - not a peace treaty - and thus the peninsula is technically still at war.
The border between the North and the South is one of the world's most heavily armed.
(More ... BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | N Korea calls for US peace treaty) ¶ 19:22
North Korea has called for a peace treaty with the US, ahead of the resumption of talks aimed at ending the stand-off over its nuclear weapons.
Pyongyang said in a statement that a full treaty replacing the armistice signed at the end of the Korean War in 1953 was needed to resolve the crisis.
The North has made similar calls in the past, but peace negotiations quickly became bogged down.
Six-nation talks are due to resume in Beijing on Tuesday.
North Korea walked out of the talks in February 2004, and has since admitted stockpiling atomic weapons.
The North has in the past demanded a non-aggression pact with the US - but Washington refuses to talk about this until North Korea agrees to shut down its weapons programme.
The Korean War ended with an armistice - not a peace treaty - and thus the peninsula is technically still at war.
The border between the North and the South is one of the world's most heavily armed.
(More ... BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | N Korea calls for US peace treaty) ¶ 19:22
