North Korea should stop tests, return to talks, says US envoy
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SEOUL • North Korea's recent ballistic missile tests were "concerning and counterproductive" to efforts to reduce tensions, and Pyongyang should instead engage in talks, the US envoy for North Korea said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters after meeting his South Korean counterpart in Seoul, Special Representative Sung Kim said the United States is committed to exploring "sustained and substantive diplomacy" with North Korea.
"Our goal remains the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula," Mr Kim said. "That's why Pyongyang's recent ballistic missile test, one of several in the past six weeks, is concerning and counterproductive to making progress towards a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula."
Last Thursday, the North said the US was overreacting to a submarine-launched ballistic missile test that it called self-defensive.
That launch violated multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions and poses a threat to North Korea's neighbours and the international community, Mr Kim said.
"We call on the DPRK to cease these provocations... and instead engage in dialogue," he said, using the initials of North Korea's official name. "We remain ready to meet with DPRK without preconditions and we have made clear that the United States harbours no hostile intent towards DPRK."
South Korean nuclear envoy Noh Kyu-duk said yesterday's talks with Mr Kim included "serious" discussion of Seoul's proposal to formally declare an end to the state of war that has technically existed since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
REUTERS
