US urged to declare end of Korean War

NORTH HAS SET PEACE DECLARATION AS KEY CONDITION OF DENUCLEARISATION

South Korean President Moon Jae-in calls on Washington to move towards Pyongyang’s demands for a peace declaration

South Korean President Moon Jae-in called yesterday on the United States to move towards the nucleararmed North’s demands for a declaration the Korean War is over, as the allies pursue increasingly different approaches towards Pyongyang.

Washington has shied away from a formal announcement that the 1950-53 conflict, when hostilities ceased with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, has ended, saying that the North must first take more steps towards giving up its atomic arsenal.

‘All tests stopped’

For its part Pyongyang — which long insisted it needed nuclear weapons to defend itself against a possible US invasion — has pledged only to work towards denuclearisation “of the Korean peninsula”, demanding simultaneous moves by Washington in return, with a peace declaration its first priority.

“The North has stopped all nuclear and missile tests, dismantled its only nuclear test site and is now dismantling its missile engine test facilities, and is promising to take steps toward dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear complex if the US takes corresponding measures,” Moon told the BBC.

“Declaring the end of the war is a political declaration that the US would end decades of hostile relations with the North,” he said. “Moving towards such a process is the corresponding measure the US should take,” he added, according to a transcript released by the presidential Blue House.

Moon has dangled large investment and joint crossborder projects as incentives for steps towards denuclearisation.

Earlier last week Moon’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyungwha told parliament Seoul was reviewing its own sanctions against the North. She later backtracked, saying she had misspoken. In response, Trump said: “They won’t do it without our approval. They do nothing without our approval.”