North Korea on Sunday proposed high-level talks with the United States to defuse current tensions in the Korean peninsula and to discuss issues related to Pyongyang's disputed nuclear and missile programs.
In a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency, the National Defense Commission (NDC) headed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Pyongyang was willing to hold "high-level talks" with the U.S. to "secure peace and stability in the region and ease tension on the Korean peninsula."
The NDC said it was willing to have "serious discussions on a wide range of issues, including the U.S. goal to achieve the world free of nuclear arsenal." It also called on Washington to propose a venue and date for the talks but warned against setting any preconditions.
Notably, U.S. response to the offer was cautious, reiterating Washington's stand that it was open to "credible" negotiations with North Korea if the communist state took "meaningful steps to honor past commitments on its disputed nuclear and missile programs.
"Our desire is to have credible negotiations with the North Koreans, but those talks must involve North Korea living up to its obligations to the world, including compliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions, and ultimately result in denuclearization," U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.
Hayden stressed that Washington would judge Pyongyang "by its actions, and not its words," and was looking forward to "seeing steps that show North Korea is ready to abide by its commitments and obligations."
The latest developments come amid tensions triggered by North Korea's February nuclear test, defying previous U.N. sanctions and resolutions, as well as subsequent nuclear threats against the U.S. and its allies in the region. The atomic test had prompted the U.N. Security Council to impose fresh sanctions on the impoverished country.
Pyongyang responded to U.N. sanctions by canceling the 1953 Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War, withdrawing its workers from a jointly-run industrial zone with South Korea and continuing warmongering against Seoul and Washington.
Although South Korea recently agreed to an offer by the North to hold high-level talks on reopening the jointly-run Kaesong Industrial Complex as well as other issues contributing to the escalation of tensions, the proposed talks were later suspended by the two nations over disagreement on the composition of their delegations.
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