N. Korea wants sanctions lifted in exchange for dialogue

PanARMENIAN.Net - North Korea offered the United States and South Korea a list of conditions for talks, including the lifting of UN sanctions, signaling a possible end to weeks of warlike hostility on the Korean peninsula, Reuters reported.

In a statement issued on Thursday, April 18, North Korea's top military body also said the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula would begin when the United States removed nuclear weapons that the isolated state says Washington has deployed in the region.

The move was likely a sop to the North's only major backer, China, which has signaled its growing unease over the escalation of threats.

"Dialogue and war cannot co-exist," the North's National Defense Commission said in the statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

"If the United States and the puppet South have the slightest desire to avoid the sledge-hammer blow of our army and the people ... and truly wish dialogue and negotiations, they must make the resolute decision," it said.

The United States has offered talks, but on the pre-condition that they lead to North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons ambitions.

North Korea deems its nuclear arms a "treasured sword" and has vowed never to give them up.

The North's military commission said UN Security Council sanctions, "fabricated with unjust reasons" must be withdrawn.

"They should bear in mind that doing so would be a token of good will towards the DPRK," it said. The North's official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The denuclearization of the Korean peninsula can begin with the removal of the nuclear war tools dragged in by the U.S. and it can lead to global nuclear disarmament," it added.

The North's commission also called for an end to military exercises such as the annual U.S.-South Korean drills that began in early March and are due to run until the end of April.

"Frequent nuclear war maneuvers will only strain the situation and totally block the way of dialogue."