The State Department immediately spurned the latest proposal, saying the military exercises would continue because the U.S. has “commitments” to South Korea to keep having them.
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U.S. deputy secretary of state Antony Blinken (from left), Japanese vice-foreign minister Akitaka Saiki and South Korea’s first vice-minister of foreign affairs Lim Sung Nam conclude a joint press conference at the Japanese foreign ministry in Tokyo on Saturday.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea said it could stop nuclear tests in exchange for the USA scrapping joint military drills with South Korea, while also calling for a peace treaty with the U.S.in an echo of demands that were rejected by Washington in the past.
While there’s widespread skepticism about the North’s claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb, whatever it detonated will likely push the isolated country closer toward having a nuclear weapon that can threaten America.
China, however, wants to take a lighter approach to North Korea sanctions, while the United States and its two key allies Japan and South Korea want to implement more powerful and comprehensive sanctions that could place heavy pressure on North Korea individuals and entities directly involved in nuclear tests.
“China supports the U.N. Security Council in taking the necessary response to this”.
Critics have accused Obama of not paying enough attention on North Korea, which has conducted three nuclear test explosions since he took office in 2009.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye called Wednesday for Chinese help to launch what she calls the “strongest” worldwide sanctions on North Korea over the nuclear test.
“If the nuclear threat posed by North Korea … should reach that level of seriousness, South Korea … will face a critical strategic choice: seek the re-introduction of US nuclear weapons, pursue its own independent nuclear force or accept the necessity of accommodating its nuclear-armed adversaries, often-called ‘Finlandization, ‘” Murdock said.
The council diplomat said the United States, which is leading the current negotiations, is consulting closely with China but also with other council members, including Japan.
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Pyongyang is under United Nations sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs.
