N.Korea’s First Proposal of Joint Peace Treaty With S.Korea and U.S.

The Japanese newspaper, the Asahi reported in a Washington dispatch on June 20 that North Korea’s proposal of a peace treaty signed by the two Koreas and the U.S. was rejected by the U.S.

This is the first time that the North has showed its intention to include the South as a concerned party even though it was an unofficial proposal. In the past, the North has insisted on the conclusion of a peace treaty only with the U.S., with whom it concluded the ceasefire agreement.

According to Asahi, the North Korean Foreign Minister Kim Kye-kwan delivered the proposal unofficially through the North Korean mission to the United Nations in New York last month.

The format of the proposal called for the two Koreas and the U.S. to sign, and China, Russia and Japan to guarantee.

North Korea claims that a peace treaty should be concluded between the North and the U.S., excluding the South, and that the nuclear matter and disarmament negotiations begin after the conclusion.

The newspaper reported that the U.S. rejected the proposal by saying, “The premise of concluding a peace treaty is building diplomatic relations. There will be no normalization of relations with North Korea unless the nuclear issue is solved under the George W. Bush administration.”

Hun-Joo Cho hanscho@donga.com