DPRK seeks US peace treaty to normalize ties with Washington, UN

Ri Su Yong, foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), addresses the General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the United States, Oct 1, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

UNITED NATIONS - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) told the UN General Assembly's general debate on Thursday that Pyongyang seeks a peace treaty with the United States to end the 1950-1953 Korean War and "address the abnormal relations between the DPRK and the UN."

"If the United States makes policy change with courage, a dramatic improvement will be affected in the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and will eventually lead to addressing security concerns of the United States," said DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, in an apparent reference to Pyonyang's nuclear threat. "This is the best option we can afford."

"The DPRK is strongly convinced that the urgent replacement of the armistice agreement with a peace treaty is a way to ensure peace and security on the Korean peninsula and address the abnormal relations between the DPRK and the UN," he said.

The "abnormal relations" he referred to has to do with the US forces in South Korea technically part of a UN Command.

The 1950-1953 Korean War was silenced not by a peace treaty but a cease-fire and Washington has long insisted the only way it will negotiate with Pyongyang is through the Six Party Talks, involving representatives from China, DPRK, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

"Late last August the situation on the Korean Peninsula once again headed to the brink of war," Ri said, referring to tensions heightened during annual joint military exercises held by South Korean and US militaries.

"What measures can the UN take when it is a UN commander who commands the large-scale exercises that create a vicious cycle of heightened tensions," Ri asked, adding that lodging complaints with the world body is to no avail because the United States as a permanent member of the Security Council holds veto power.