Pyongyang conditions talks to sanctions removal

Mon, 18 Jan 2010

North Korea says it will not return to the six-party negotiations on its nuclear program, unless UN sanctions are removed.

The country's foreign ministry said in a Monday statement that if Pyongyang "goes out for the six-party talks, remaining subjected to the sanctions, such talks will not prove to be equal."

Pyongyang says it welcomes the multilateral talks and does not want to delay them; however, the dignity of the country should be respected.

North Korea has boycotted the disarmament-for-aid talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Pyongyang over its missile tests.

Talks on a treaty to put a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War would help build "confidence," the foreign ministry added.

US-led UN forces fighting on behalf of South Korea signed the ceasefire with North Korea and China that ended the Korean War.

The two Koreas are technically still at war and have positioned more than 1 million troops near their border.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116472§ionid=351020405.