BEIJING, June 19 (RIA Novosti) – Pyongyang reiterated its commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday and said it was determined to tackle the nuclear issue through negotiations.
“[North] Korea is ready for dialogue with all parties concerned, [ready] to participate in negotiations in various formats, including six-way negotiations, and hopes to achieve peaceful resolution of the nuclear problem through negotiations,” North Korean First Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan was quoted by Xinhua as saying during a meeting with Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui.
Zhang Yesui said China hope that the six-way negotiations would be resumed soon.
On Sunday, North Korea proposed high-level regional security talks with the United States, following the recent failure to resume direct talks with rival South Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported. The move comes five days after planned negotiations between the two Koreas collapsed over Pyongyang’s claim that Seoul fielded negotiators of insufficient rank.
The two Koreas technically remain "at war" since no peace treaty was signed when the Korean War ended in 1953. Tensions mounted on the Korean Peninsula earlier this year after North Korea conducted new nuclear tests. Pyongyang threatened Seoul and the United States with war and closed off the joint industrial zone in Kaesong following a new round of international sanctions, but later voiced willingness to negotiate.
